FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Facing a challenging field Saturday morning, Missouri S&T's cross country teams took part in the prestigious Chile Pepper Festival at the University of Arkansas where the women's squad finished in 23^rd place among the 27 team and the men's team finished in 29^th place in the 32-team field.

Kennedy Duffy (Rochester, IL/Rochester) was the highest S&T finisher in the women's five-kilometer race on Saturday, finishing with a time of 18:55 to put her 154^th among the 270 runners.  Krista Hilmas (Rolla, MO/Rolla) posted a time of 18:59, while Becky Versaskas (Woodridge, IL/Downers Grove South) finished seven-tenths of a second in back of Hilmas.  S&T's next two scorers were Hannah Shearer (Conroe, TX/The Woodlands Christian Academy) with a time of 19:13 and Anne Vernon (Neosho, MO/Neosho), who finished in 19:33.

The next two finishers for S&T were Aubrie Caldwell (Dripping Springs, TX/Dripping Springs), who ran a time of 20:11 and Laurana Mitchell (Peculiar, MO/Raymore-Peculiar), who finished in 20:23.

Arkansas captured the women's team title as it had the top four finishers in the race, led by Taylor Werner's winning time of 15:45.

The Miners were headed in the men's eight-kilometer race by Duncan Clark (Kirksville, MO/Kirksville), who finished 80^th overall in the field of 304 runners in a time of 25:21.  The next S&T finisher was Andrew Lofgren (Chesterfield, MO/Parkway West), who posted a time of 25:56, while the top five was rounded out by Garrett Blanchard (Centralia, IL/Centralia) in 26:11, Hayes Pateidl (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley West) in 26:15 and Wil Crutcher (Rolla, MO/Rolla) in 26:27.

S&T's next two finishers after the scorers were Zane Yates (Ballwin, MO/Parkway West) with a time of 26:45 and Spencer Teske (Naperville, IL/Neuqua Valley), who finished in 26:58.

The University of Texas came out on top in the men's team standings while Cameron Griffith, running unattached, captured the individual title with a time of 23:35.

The next competition for Missouri S&T will take place next Saturday at the Lewis Regional Crossover in Romeoville, Ill.