FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Samford University men's and women's cross-country teams rolled to a pair of top-six finishes at the prestigious Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival on Saturday, Oct. 1.

Hosted at Fayetteville's Agri Park by the University of Arkansas, the Bulldog women placed fifth and the men placed sixth.

"We're very fortunate to have good athletes here. They've worked hard," Samford head cross-country coach Pat McGregor said. "Any success they have is because they wanted to do well, and they just went out and did it."

Juniors Karisa Nelson and Emma Garner paced the Bulldogs with top-12 individual finishes in the college women's 5K race. Nelson placed sixth in a personal-best 16 minutes, 38.99 seconds. Garner followed closely behind in a personal-best 16:53.69, which was good for 12th.

"That's where I expected them to be," McGregor said. "I felt that Emma Garner did very well trying to stay with Karisa, but that's her standard."

Junior Anna Long and freshman Mary Grace Strozier finished third and fourth for the Bulldog women. Long clocked a personal-best 18:00.39 to place 45th, and Strozier crossed the line in 18:09.25 – two seconds shy of a PR – to place 54th.

Freshman Shian Mallory rounded out the team's scoring. She placed 64th in a personal-best 18:36.01

Samford totaled 156 points. The Arkansas women bested a field of 17 Division I teams to pick up a home victory with 22 points.

"Where they are now is great, but I'm not jumping out of my chair," McGregor said. "It was a good race – mission accomplished – and we'll keep getting better."

Arsène Guillorel led the way for Samford in the college men's 8K. The junior from Pontchateau, France, posted an 11th-place finish with a time of 24:02.67. The time posted by Guillorel bested his previous PR by eight seconds.

Sophomore Ben Bryant and redshirt senior Brandon Hazouri trailed Guillorel to place second and third on the team. Bryant registered a 63-second personal-best 24:37.56, and Hazouri registered a 47-second personal-best 24:53.05. The duo finished 23rd and 36th, respectively.

Freshman Dillon Dean and junior Paul Richardson capped the Bulldogs' scoring. Dean tallied a 61st-place finish by clocking a time of 25:27.35 in his 8K debut. Richardson tallied a 62nd-place finish in 25:27.39, which represented a personal best by more than two minutes.

McGregor said he was pleased with the team's effort, but he identified Dean's impressive debut as the race of the day.

"He did a really good job stepping up as a freshman and earning his spot as part of our top five," McGregor said of Dean. "He ran with Paul Richardson for the majority of the race, and that's what I like to see, is them working together."

Samford totaled 161 points. Like the Arkansas women, the Razorback men bested a field of 17 other Division I teams to seal a victory with 32 points.

Both Samford squads will return to action on Friday, Oct. 14, at the University of Alabama Crimson Classic in Tuscaloosa.

"I think it's off to a good start, but there's still so much work to be done," McGregor said of the season. "We want to keep the standards high, and then they'll keep performing well."
 
Samford Women
Karisa Nelson – 6th – 16:38.99 – PR
Emma Garner – 12th – 16:53.69 – PR
Anna Long – 45th – 18:00.39 – PR
Mary Grace Strozier – 54th – 18:09.25
Shian Mallory – 82nd – 18:36.01 – PR
Lauren Granier – 88th – 18:41.5 – PR           
Sarah Fairchild – 132nd – 19:21.72 – PR     
Presley Weems – 140th – 19:30.57
 
Samford Men
Arsène Guillorel – 11th – 24:02.67
Ben Bryant – 23rd – 24:37.56 – PR
Brandon Hazouri – 36th – 24:53.05 – PR
Dillon Dean – 61st – 25:27.35 – PR
Paul Richardson – 62nd – 25:27.39 – PR
Josh Salter – 76th – 25:39.01 – PR
Mike Rohdy – 128th – 26:31.35 –  
Jonathan Helton – 151st – 26:59.79 – PR