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SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State's women's cross country team will face its biggest challenge of the young season Saturday when the Bears join nearly 10,000 runners and spectators in Fayetteville, Ark., for the 28^th annual Chile Pepper Festival.
 
MSU is expected to be one of approximately 80 college teams entered in the meet, which includes open runs as well as high school and college races. The five-kilometer collegiate women's race at the University of Arkansas Agricultural Farms begins at 10:20 a.m.
 
Bears' head coach Jordan Fife said with nearly 500 runner expected to enter the women's race, the competition will be great, but his team is progressing with each opportunity and looking forward to improving times on a familiar course.
 
"Our goal is to keep progressing and getting better with each meet," Fife said. "We have been wanting to put a result together in competition that reflects the hard work we have done in training. We want that hard work to translate into a race situation."
 
The Bears are entering 12 runners in the meet, nine of whom competed on the same course a year ago. Last season, the Bears finished in 14^th place among the Division I entries, beating out the likes of Texas State, Baylor and Louisiana-Monroe with a young team.
 
Fife said the course, the weather forecast and the training his team has put in should make for an ideal combination on Saturday.
 
"The course is flat and fast, and the weather looks to be ideal conditions," he explained. "We just need to go out and take advantage of it."
 
For the first time this season, MSU will see two fellow Missouri Valley Conference foes at the meet. Preseason MVC favorite Wichita State will also run at the Chile Pepper Festival, along with Drake.
 
Two weeks ago, Missouri State's Jessica Allen turned in a time of 18:05.71 on the 5k course in Joplin to help the Bears post 34 points in the Division I race at the Missouri Southern Stampede. Her effort was second among the DI entries and led a cast of three Bears who placed in the top 50 overall in the field of more than 200 runners. Savannah Aleckson (37^th) and Jade Raynore (43^rd) were also among the top scorers for MSU in Joplin.