The Red Raider men and women are headed to Fayetteville this weekend for the mighty Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival, one of the great XC country meets in the world. But, truth be told, it simply is not as mighty this year. The Pre-National XC meet is also being held this weekend, on the course where the national meet will be held and it looks like many of the top teams have opted for that meet. There are about 4 Top 30 teams in both the men's and women's race in Fayetteville, where this race usually draws 8-10 top 30 teams. There will be many of the top D-II and NAIA teams there - in a sport where this is not much difference between D-I and D-II from a talent standpoint. I read that Baylor was going to the there on the women's side, which is important because the Baylor women are ranked #12 nationally, to Tech's #20. THEN, I read that Baylor is going to both races, which means that they will probably send their #7-#13 runners to the Chile Pepper. Ugh. The field will still be strong - probably the strongest field the Red Raiders have faced this year, just not as strong as in the past.
I read on-line that the Chile Pepper does not limit the number of runners that each team brings - with that in mind, we may see some runners who ran this past weekend in the South Plains meet. Here are the runners I expect to see running in Fayetteville:
MEN - Seniors Cory Higgins and Zach Quinones; Juniors David Boston, Logan Culotta, Silas Kemboi, and Gilbert Limo; Sophomore Zach Dawson. There is a chance that Nathan Milles (coming back from 2 weeks of sickness) and Jeremy Kight might also make the trip. I think that freshman Valentino Julien ran well in Levelland last week and deserves a shot at a big meet. And, this might finally be the week we see the Frenchman Thomas Cattin-Masson (of course this is the 3rd straight meet I have predicted we might see him). Limo has the best shot at a top 10 finish, but the whole team needs to run well and get the taste out of their mouths of a disappointing showing at the Cowboy Stampede. I still think this team has the capability of being a top 6 team at conference and they can start pointing to that with a good showing in Fayetteville.
WOMEN - I think the 9 women who did not run in Levelland will go to Fayetteville: Senior Gladys Kipsang (if she is back 100% healthy), Juniors Lillian Badaru, Michelle Guzman, Caroline Karunde, Winrose Karunde, Katherine Priebe, Kaci Westervelt, and Meagan Willingham. Plus, sophomore Purity Biwott. Tech has 6 women truly capable of running in the top 15 at this meet - Biwott, Kipsang, Badaru (a legit contender to win the national meet), Guzman and both Karunde sisters. I still think that their current national ranking of #20 is far too low for the Red Raiders. This is a top 10 and quite possibly a top 5 team once the national meet rolls around. The battle for the Big 12 championship with Baylor should be terrific.
I read on-line that the Chile Pepper does not limit the number of runners that each team brings - with that in mind, we may see some runners who ran this past weekend in the South Plains meet. Here are the runners I expect to see running in Fayetteville:
MEN - Seniors Cory Higgins and Zach Quinones; Juniors David Boston, Logan Culotta, Silas Kemboi, and Gilbert Limo; Sophomore Zach Dawson. There is a chance that Nathan Milles (coming back from 2 weeks of sickness) and Jeremy Kight might also make the trip. I think that freshman Valentino Julien ran well in Levelland last week and deserves a shot at a big meet. And, this might finally be the week we see the Frenchman Thomas Cattin-Masson (of course this is the 3rd straight meet I have predicted we might see him). Limo has the best shot at a top 10 finish, but the whole team needs to run well and get the taste out of their mouths of a disappointing showing at the Cowboy Stampede. I still think this team has the capability of being a top 6 team at conference and they can start pointing to that with a good showing in Fayetteville.
WOMEN - I think the 9 women who did not run in Levelland will go to Fayetteville: Senior Gladys Kipsang (if she is back 100% healthy), Juniors Lillian Badaru, Michelle Guzman, Caroline Karunde, Winrose Karunde, Katherine Priebe, Kaci Westervelt, and Meagan Willingham. Plus, sophomore Purity Biwott. Tech has 6 women truly capable of running in the top 15 at this meet - Biwott, Kipsang, Badaru (a legit contender to win the national meet), Guzman and both Karunde sisters. I still think that their current national ranking of #20 is far too low for the Red Raiders. This is a top 10 and quite possibly a top 5 team once the national meet rolls around. The battle for the Big 12 championship with Baylor should be terrific.
