FAYETTEVILLE -- Start fast, finish fast.
That was the plan for Vincent Kiprop of Missouri Southern, who blistered the field to win the college men's overall championship at the 28th annual Chile Pepper Festival Saturday at Agri Park.
Kiprop, a sophomore originally from Nigeria, burst across the finish line more than 30 seconds ahead of Arkansas teammates Alex George and Frankline Tonui, who placed second and third, respectively. Kiprop ran the 8K course in 23 minutes, .03.45 seconds while George finished in 23.32.78 and Tonui in 23.32.88.
Kiprop, running in Division II for Missouri Southern, was pleased with his winning performance Saturday after finishing 11th (23.57.77) overall in the Chile Pepper last year as a freshman.
"It's always my goal to finish hard and I wanted to win badly after finishing 11th last year," Kiprop said. "In the second loop of the race, I felt comfortable and I knew I had a chance to win."
Arkansas easily defended its Chile Pepper title while winning the Division I championship in the college men's race. Arkansas had 32 points to greatly outdistance Wichita State and Missouri, which tied for second place with 115 points.
George and Tonui flashed the Arkansas "A" with their hands while running almost stride-for-stride at the stretch.
"Obviously, we're happy when we win and this is really the first time we've put our team together," Arkansas men's coach Chris Bucknam said. "This is a good course and it was important to get out fast and stretch our legs a bit."
More than 5,000 runners and 64 college men's and women's teams competed in an event which has grown to one of the most popular cross country meets in the country. The field included for the first time Villanova and Boston College, which is coached by Matt Kerr, an Arkansas graduate who won a national championship for the Razorbacks in the steeplechase in 1998 and 1999.
Villanova finished sixth and Boston College seventh in the college men's competition.
"I haven't been back here in over a decade, so it was nice to be back in Fayetteville," Kerr said. "It's a phenomenal course and without a doubt one of the best meets in the country. We came down to run fast and that's exactly what we did. You're always inspired to run when you come to Arkansas."
Arkansas will now carry some momentum into its next race in the pre-nationals at Terre Haute, Ind., on Oct. 15.
"The pre-nationals is a big meet for us," Bucknam said, "and winning this one was a good stepping stone for that meet."
Sports on 10/02/2016