SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The Augustana cross country teams are back to racing this week heading down to Arkansas to compete in the Chile Pepper Festival, hosted by the University of Arkansas, in Fayetteville on Friday. The women's 5k is slated for a 5 p.m. start while the men's 8k will take place at 5:30 p.m.

Augustana's women entered the race ranked No. 4 while the men are currently No. 4 in the latest USTFCCCA rankings.

The Razorbacks of Arkansas will be the host to 38 women's teams and 36 men's teams including 

The men's race consists of 18 Division I men's programs, 13 Division II men's programs and five NJCAA men's programs. Among the teams competing in the event, there are two nationally-ranked division I programs in Arkansas (8th) and Tulsa (11th). The division II opponents also have nationally-ranked foes in Colorado Mines (1st), Alabama-Huntsville (8th), and Western Colorado (18th).

The women's race consists of 38 teams, 20 Division I teams, 15 Division II teams, and teams from Division III, NAIA, and NJCAA. Among the teams competing in the event, there are two nationally-ranked division I programs in Arkansas (10th) and Oklahoma State (14th). The division II opponents have four nationally-ranked foes in Colorado Mines, (2nd) Southwest Baptist (6th), CSU Pueblo (17th), and Western Colorado (17th).

A live webcast of the event will be available at GoAugie.com/Live and on the GoAugie app, presented by CellOnly, found in the app store and on Google play.

Last time out, the Vikings competed in the 10th annual Twilight Meet.

The then-ranked No. 3 Augustana women tied with Nebraska for second, both teams scoring 83 points. The Vikings were led by junior Patty Jo English who placed 11th overall in a time of 18:44.07, with Augustana's top-five all finishing under 20 seconds after English. 

The then No. 9 nationally-ranked men of Augustana, also placed second at the Twilight, scoring 35 points. Ryan Hartman stole the show claiming victory for the Vikings running 19:21.25. Augustana's scoring rounded with the fifth man placing 11th overall. 

One last thing

In the first showing of the season, the cross country team's depth was on notice. The top nine Vikings on the women's side came in under 27 seconds from the first place finisher. Similarly, on the men's side, the sixth and seventh runner for the Vikings came under seven seconds after the fifth-place runner.

--GoAugie.com--