The Mustang Broncos traveled to Fayetteville, Ark. last weekend to compete in the 2023 Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival’s El Caliente 5K.
With all seven racers finishing inside the top 500, the Broncos finished 61st out of over 80 teams from across the region. Senior Carol Le led the way with a top 250 finish while Kiara Smith (Sr.), Emerson Hodde (Jr.), and Jayci Klopfenstein (Fr.) all cracked the 23-minute mark.
Le placed 213th out of nearly 650 contestants, clocking in at 20:57.3. She improved upon her time of 21:23.9 from last season’s race.
Smith placed 334th with a time of 22:28.4 while Hodde placed 349th with a time of 22:40.3. Klopfenstein placed 371st, coming in at 22:56.2. Morgan McClain (So.) stayed just behind the same group, finishing 376th with a time of 23:00.8.
Lauren Vivier (Jr.) and Julia Sroczynski (So.) finished as the team’s final placers. Vivier clocked a time of 23:41.5 in 419th place while Sroczynski finished with a time of 24:00.4, good for 439th place.
Lucas Lovejoy (TX) won the meet with all seven of the team’s placers finishing inside the top 100. Olathe West-Silver (KS) placed second with six racers inside the top 100. Byron Nelson (TX) finished third, also with six racers in the top 100.
Edmond North, Piedmont, and Deer Creek led all Oklahoma teams.
The Huskies finished seventh overall with five racers inside the top 100. The Wildcats finished eighth and the Antlers finished ninth.
Bentonville’s (AR) Haley Loewe won the race with a time of 17:03.1 while Macy Wingard from Denton Braswell (TX) finished second with a time of 17:08.2. Edmond Santa Fe’s Natalie Duggan finished third with a time of 17:39.6.
The Chile Pepper Festival is one of the top cross country meets in the nation, hosting approximately 6,500 runners and over 7,000 spectators each year. It is held at the University of Arkansas, featuring a combination of grass, cinder, and uneven terrain.
OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOY JAMBOREE
The Broncos finished 24th at the annual Cowboy Jamboree on Sept. 24 in Stillwater.
Kendall Howell, Kiara Smith (Sr.), Emerson Hodde (Jr.), and Lauren Vivier (Jr.) guided the Broncos as the team split for the Pre-State meet at Edmond Santa Fe the same day.
Howell placed 111th with a time of 23:29.0 while smith placed 122nd with a time of 23:49.2. Hodde placed 139th, clocking in at 24:24.0. Vivier placed 155th with a time of 25:14.0.
Lucas Lovejoy (TX) won the meet while No. 3 Deer Creek finished second and No. 1 Edmond North finished third. Madison Peterson (Pearland, Tex.) won the meet with a time of 18:31.2.
2023 PRE-STATE
The Broncos finished 12th in the Pre-State meet at Edmond Santa Fe.
Morgan McClain (So.), Natalia Echeverria (Fr.), Clara Hargrove, Arwyn Mann (So.), and Madeline Brace (Fr.) finished as the team’s placers while Rubi Jones () finished as the lone displacer.
McClain placed 35th, scoring 35 points with a time of 22:39.75 while Echeverria placed 66th with a time of 24:49.79. Hargrove finished third for the Broncos, placing 81st with a time of 26:40.81. Mann was right on Hargrove’s heels in 84th place with a time of 26:59.02. Brace placed 90th, clocking in at 27:33.95 to round out the placing scores. Jones placed 94th with a time of 29:45.87.
Jenks won the meet while Edmond Memorial finished second and Norman finished third. Jenks’ Charlie Keely placed first overall with a time of 19:10.9.
Next up for Mustang is the 2023 Central Oklahoma Athletics Conference meet on Tuesday at Deer Creek. The Broncos then host one of two Class 6A regional meets at Wild Horse Park on Oct. 21.
