The cross country Bears will take to the course for their last tuneup before the Missouri Valley Conference championship in two weeks. The Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark. on Oct. 16 will not only be the final regular season meet for the Bears, but the largest meet of the season.
Last time out, Missouri State finished fourth of 10 at its home meet, the Richard Clark Invitational on Oct. 2. In that meet, the Bears faced the elite talents of nationally-ranked Texas Tech and regionally-ranked Toledo. However, in the Chile Pepper Festival, the field will consist of 68 teams from all parts of the country. Featured in the meet will be nationally-ranked University of Arkansas and Indiana University.
The Bears have been having a solid season so far. Of the times reported in the MVC this season, two of the top 10 times in the 5K belong to Missouri State athletes. Sophomore Emily Beaver's time of 18:01.03 is currently the seventh-fastest time in the Valley all season. Junior Terry Phillips was the Bears' top finisher at last year's Chile Pepper Festival, placing 12th with a time of 21:26.09 in the 6K race. This season, the distance has been dropped to a 5K.
Following the Chile Pepper Festival, Missouri State will travel to Wichita, Kan., to run in the 2010 MVC Championship. Last season, Phillips was the individual champion in the Valley and as a team, the Bears finished fifth. This season, however, the Bears look to return to the podium. If every athlete were to run time consistent with their current bests, Missouri State would finish third in the conference meet behind Illinois State and Wichita State. The conference meet will begin on Oct. 30.
