Cowgirls Finish Third in Strong Field, Cowboys 16th at the Chile Pepper Invitational

Senior Jennifer Thompson places 18th of 245 runners.

Jennifer Thompson ran a time 21:36.
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Oct. 16, 2004

LARAMIE, Wyo. -

After a short layoff the University of Wyoming cross country teams were back into action this weekend down in Fayetteville, Arkansas for the Chile Pepper Invitational.

The Cowgirls (151 points) made a name for themselves finishing third of 31 teams, placing only behind #11 ranked Southern Methodist University (67 points) and #21 ranked Arkansas (76 points). Oklahoma (193 points) and Alabama-Bermingham (214 points) would wrap up the top five.

The Cowboys would go on to finish 16th as a team against a tough field that included the #3 ranked team in the nation in Arkansas.

The Cowgirls were led once again by senior Jennifer Thompson who finished 18th out of 245 runners competing. The Cheyenne native ran a personal best at the 6,000 meter distance with a time of 21:36. After Thompson, the middle pack of Cowgirls would all be within a few places of each other.

Gladys Jerotich (43:25) would be the next Cowgirl to cross the tape in 29th place and would be followed closely by Gretchen Fagley (1:05:41) in 34th place. Natalie Kean (1:27:51), Tanice Barnett (1:50:07), and Emerald Reid (2:12:32) would all place within the top fifty.

"We ran really well as a team and were all so close together," said Cowgirl stand-out Jennifer Thompson. "With this tough competition we showed we could run with anyone."

The Cowboys were led by junior Brian Knight who finished in the 24th position of the 254 person field. The Boise, Idaho native would finish with a time of 30:48 on the 10,000 meter track. Knight would be followed by junior Matt Hudson (32:13) in 80th and sophomore Chris Schabron (32:40) in 100th place. Those two would be followed by junior Nick Cramer (32:49) in 105th place.

"It was nice to see everyone out there competing and they all had really solid races," said University of Wyoming head cross country coach Randy Cole. "This was a positive step for both programs and all in all I was very pleased."

Coach Cole would go on mentioning that this was the first time running out of the mountains and that it was nice to experience running at a lower elevation.

The University of Wyoming cross country teams will try to keep this momentum and have two weeks to prepare for the Mountain West Conference Championships in San Diego, Calif. on October, 30.