FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. ? Austin Peay State University men and women's cross country teams faced stiff competition at the 19th Annual Chile Pepper Invitational, Saturday. The men finished 25th out of 31 teams, while the women finished 30th out of 41 teams.

“We came to this meet to compete against some of the best teams in the country,” said head coach Doug Molnar. “Competing in this meet will just make us better at the conference championships.”

Junior Bertha Castillo paced the Lady Govs over the six-kilometer distance with a time of 32:27.40, finishing 69th. Junior Anna Claire Raines (23:57.00, 139th) and freshman Brooke Denny (25:05.60, 190th) ran strong races. Junior Melissa Nobbs (25:55.50, 215th) and sophomore Kate Gauf (26:26.50, 229th) rounded out the Lady Govs scoring. D.J. Shannon finished 268th with a time of 31:26.3.

On the men's side, junior Tim Hall again led the way for the Govs, finishing the 10-kilometer course 66th with a time of 32:12.40. Juniors Ryne Sexton (33:00.20, 108th), Antonio Diaz (34:32.80, 170th), Lukas Siska (34:55.80, 183rd) and freshman Jordan Payne (36:23.00, 219th) rounded out the Govs scoring. Freshman Jimmy Clark finished 238th with a time of 37:49.0.

Both cross country teams will have a two-week break, until the Ohio Valley Conference Championships, Oct. 27 in Birmingham, Ala.

- AP -