Oct. 13, 2006

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Lamar University men's and women's cross country teams will return to action this Saturday, taking on a strong field at the 18th annual Chile Pepper Festival hosted by the University of Arkansas.

The men's 10K race will begin at 9:45 a.m. with the women's 6K race set to begin at 10:30 a.m.

The Cardinal men will face strong competition in Fayetteville, as host Arkansas ranks No. 2 in the NCAA. Joining Arkansas among the team in the top 20 are No. 11 UTEP, No. 17 Alabama and Div. II powerhouse No. 3 Abilene Christian.

Many of the NCAA cross country regions will be represented this weekend. In the South Central region, Arkansas sits at No. 1, Lamar is fifth, Baylor is ranked No. 6, Sam Houston State stands at eighth, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is No. 10 and LSU is 11th.

Leading the way for the Cards this season has been Samuel Kosgei, who has individual titles at Rice and NSU, and finished sixth at the Griak Invitational in Minnesota. Francis Kasagule, Frank Bwambale and Danny Shaw have also finished strong for Lamar this season, with all three turning in two top 10 performances.

The Lamar women also face a tough challenge with the nations number four team, Arkansas, hosting the event. The field for the women's race is equally as strong as the men's field.

The Lamar women have had several runners lead the way this year, with junior Clerc Koenck, sophomore Renee Graham and senior Amanda King turning in consistently solid performances.