Rotich shatters school record, takes 12th at Chile Pepper Festival

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — How competitive was the Arkansas Chile Pepper Festival college cross country meet Saturday morning? Eastern New Mexico senior Mercy Rotich shattered her own school record by a full 27 seconds, and she finished 12th.

Rotich crossed the 5K course’s finish line in 17:37.7 at Alvi Park. The time was well faster than her 18:04.7 that netted her second place at last week’s Texas Tech Open. That performance broke Amber Saiz’ 18:07.78 set in 2015.

Two other Eastern New Mexico women finished in the top 100 — Mason Swanson 93rd at19:06.2 and Evaline Cheptoo at 19:09.5 to take 100th. Both times were personal bests.

Overall, Eastern’s women placed 21st out of 51 total teams, with the seventh-best team total of Division II schools. Arkansas took three of the top four spots and five of the top 15, led by freshman Katrina Robinson’s 16:15.3, and obliterated the team competition with 34 points. Wichita State was second with 116 points.

In the men’s 8K, senior Shane Walsh finished 106th with a personal best time of 26:31.7 — nearly 18 seconds faster than his previous record in the 2016 Lone Star Conference championship.

The Greyhound men finished 38th overall and 17th among Division II teams. Arkansas had the top three scoring runners and five of the top 19 for 38 points, besting Iowa Central Community College (125) for the team title. Frankine Tounui, not affiliated with any school, took first at 24:05.4

Eastern New Mexico will compete a little closer to home Friday at the New Mexico Junior College Invite in Hobbs.