Fayetteville, AR – The Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival was created to bring together three Northwest Arkansas cross country races under a single event. The Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival is now one of the premier running events in America. Typically, over 80 college teams and 120 high school teams battle for prestige and unique Chile Pepper themed awards. Additionally, 750 individuals participate in the open events including the Tom Lewis 1 Mile Pepper Dash on Friday night and the Godpepper 10K on Saturday morning. The event is held at University of Arkansas's incredible cross country course.

The Highland Scotties competed in the Festival in Fayetteville September 30 through October 1. This was one of the most competitive and biggest meets in the nation. The Scotties continue to build a great foundation, but it takes time and conditioning to match the level of competition. Many of our runners just started training six weeks ago, which becomes obvious on such a competitive field. On the men's side, Highland had a sprinter step in, so they could field a team. On the women's side, the Scotties had a thrower and a sprinter join the team. Cross country is an endurance sport making it extra tough when you've only been training for six weeks. This won't be the case next year!

Highland's Head Track and Field and Cross Country Coach Kathleen Graham stated, "The Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival is a great test of where we are. We struggled, and it was not our best meet. We were able to score as a men's team, but our performances were far below what we are capable both for the men and the women. We will fix what we need to fix and see results at the next meet."