The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Cross Country To Participate In Chile Pepper Invitational
10/17/2003 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Oct. 17, 2003
The UAB cross country team heads to Fayetteville, Ark., to participate in the 2003 Chile Pepper Invitational hosted by the University of Arkansas this weekend. The race is 6,000 meters and will be held on Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Agri Park Cross Country Course.
"The Chile Pepper is one of the most historical meets," said UAB head coach Ray Stanfield. "It's one of the highlights of the cross country season and this will be a great experience for the athletes. It's also our first 6K race of the season. The Invitational has a loaded field, as some of the top teams in the nation will be there. This is our last tune-up before the Conference USA championships and they are very similar courses, so I think it's going to be good for our team."
This year's race includes perhaps the largest women's collegiate field ever, at this event. Thirty-seven teams get a chance to knock off the home team for the Chile Pepper title. Arkansas enters the competition with the highest ranking (19th), and two other schools, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt, are receiving votes. Notables that are going to Fayetteville to take on the Lady Razorbacks include SEC rivals Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. Also entered are Oklahoma, Southwest Missouri State and Abilene Christian.
On Oct. 11, The UAB Cross Country team placed 26th out of 32 teams at the Auburn Invitational. The Blazers ran their "B" team and were led by freshman Adel Anderson. Anderson finished 111th with a time of 20:19.45 in the 5K race. Ada Hussein was UAB's second-best finisher, placing 184th by running the course in 21:22.35; while Adie Sander finished 190th with a time of 21:27.84.
