FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Western Colorado cross country competed at the 2019 Chile Pepper Invite early Saturday morning as they competed against many top division one schools. The men's team finished fourth in the event as the women's team finished sixth.
 
Taylor Stack had the highest finish for any Mountaineer as he finished fifth in the collegiate 8k in a blazing time of twenty-three minutes and fifty-five seconds, just 20 seconds off the unattached leader. Stack finished as the third collegiate runner in the field.
 
Charlie Sweeney was the second Mountaineer to cross the line for the men as he finished 13^th in a time of 24:14.0. Following Stack and Sweeny were Mountaineers Ross Husch (24:36.7 – 36^th), Evan Sutherland (24:46.2 – 40^th), and Juan Diaz (25:06.2 – 61^st).
 
As a true freshman, Alexa Rodriguez lead the women team as she was the first Mountaineer to cross the line in 17:18.4 to finish 23^rd.
 
Alexia Thiros was closely behind as the second Mountaineer across the line she finished 25^th overall in a time of 17:21.5. Following Rodriguez and Thiros were Mountaineers Alyssa Tatum (17:29.7 – 34^th), Katie Doucette (17:52.3 – 59^th), and Malindi (Lindi) Congour (17:59.1 – 69^th).
 
The men's finished fourth in the collegiate 8k as they finished with 134 points. Texas won the men's team scoring with 74 total points, followed by Colorado Mines (96 points) and Oklahoma State (125 points). Western Colorado finished as the second place division two team in the field, behind the No. 1 ranked team in division two, Colorado School of Mines.
 
Western Colorado women's team finished sixth in the collegiate 5k as they finished with 178 points. Arkansas won the women's race with 24 points, following the Razorbacks was Texas (90 points), West Virginia (100 points), Oklahoma State (129 points), and Tulsa (143 points). The Mountaineer women were the first division two school in the team scoring.
 
The Mountaineers will race next weekend at the UCCS XC Open on October 12^th in Colorado Springs.