In its final competition before the 2007 championship season gets underway, the Missouri State cross country team took home a 13th-place finish at Saturday’s (Oct. 13) 19th annual Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark. The Bears totaled 353 points in the 6K race, their last before the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.

Senior Carrie Vestal once again led the Missouri State scoring group, turning in a run of 21:53.3 to finish 29th overall. Junior Jamie Vest followed right on Vestal’s heels, coming home 32nd in a time of 21:57.3, while senior Asher Kyger placed 47th in 22:14.0.

Junior Kristin Wolkey completed her run in 23:22.3 (108th overall), with sophomores Staci Nelson (23:54.2) and Emily Fletcher (24:12.2) finishing close behind. Freshman Mari-Jean Vance rounded out MSU’s group of seven with a run of 26:26.1.

Behind reigning NCAA champion Sally Kipyego, Texas Tech captured the team title with 83 points, while the host squad, No. 5 Arkansas, finished second with 87 points. Kipyego won the individual title with a run of 19:49.2, while teammate Irene Kimaiyo was the runner-up, finishing in 20:47.6 to lead the 24th-ranked Red Raiders to victory.

Virginia Tech (130 points) placed third, followed by UC Irvine (195), Oklahoma State (200), Texas (224), Texas A&M (233), Richmond (302), Utah (317) and James Madison (337).

Missouri State will be back in action in two weeks (Oct. 27) at the State Farm MVC Cross Country Championship, which will kick off at 10:30 a.m. CST in Cedar Falls, Iowa.