Timothy Chesondin Breaks 8k Course Record, Leads Four Razorbacks In Top Five In Men's McDonnell Memorial Race; Texas Repeats As Women's Harter's Habanero Champions; Gabbie Bishop, Jackson Free Win El Caliente High School Races

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

Braeden Botts photos

The No. 19 Arkansas men won a fourth consecutive Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival team title on a sunny Saturday afternoon at the University of Arkansas Cross Country Course in Fayetteville.

The Razorbacks tallied 40 points in the men's McDonnell Memorial 8-kilometer race, handling Southeastern Conference foe Texas by 16 points. 

Timothy Chesondin, sixth at the 2024 Chile Pepper, climbed to the top of individual leaderboard, winning the 8k race in a course record 22 minutes, 53.6 seconds. Chesondin was one of four Arkansas men to finish in the top five, individually, with Brian Masai finishing second in 23:10.2, James Sankei finished fourth in 23:31.3 and Ben Shearer finishing fifth in 23:38.4. Jack Williams, Arkansas' fifth scorer, finished 29th in 24:43.4.

Texas put all five scorers in the top 20, led by Nathaneal Berhane in seventh in 23:53.1, Hudson Heikkinen in ninth in 24:00.5 and Aidan Torres in 10th in 24:06.5.

Northwest Missouri, No. 9 at the NCAA Division 2 level, finished third with 103 points. Aziz Mohammed finished sixth in 23:44.2 and Andrew Atkins finished eighth in 23:59.5 to lead the Bearcats.

Oral Roberts' Abraham Chelangam rounded out the top three individuals, running 23:29.3.

Arkansas senior Sydney Thorvaldson returned to Chile Pepper for the first time since a second-place finish in 2023, winning the women's Harter's Habanero 5k title in 16:03 in her final Chile Pepper in an Arkansas uniform.

But for the second year in a row, the No. 22 Razorbacks came up short of the team title, falling to Texas 54-106.

Elizabeth Pickett, sixth a year ago, improved her finish to third in 16:15.4, sparking the Longhorn's 52-point route of Arkansas.  

Including Pickett, Texas finished with five in the top 20 with Isabel Conde De Frankenburg in ninth in 16:51.2, Melody Espinoza in 13th in 17:03.6, Sydni Wilkins in 17th in 17:11.4 and Lily Fawcett in 20th in 17:18.2.

Arkansas' Josphine Mwaura and Olivia Pielemeier earned top five finishes for the Razorbacks, finishing fourth and fifth in 16:23 and 16:26, respectively.

Stephen F. Austin, led by Valentine Jemutai (16:26.7, sixth) and Mery Kipchumba (16:29.5, seventh) finished third in the team race with 110 points. 

UT Arlington's Dorcas Jepkosgei finished second to Thorvaldson in 16:09.5.

Gabbie Bishop, Jackson Free Win El Caliente Individual Titles

Gabbie Bishop and Jackson Free both delivered stellar performances in winning their respective El Caliente individual titles in the high school races to kick off the day's festivities. 

In the absence of defending champion Lilly Beashers, who was not on the start line, Bishop of Providence Classical Christian AR made the most of her moment in the girls race, winning by nearly 20 seconds in 16:58.

In doing so, Bishop managed to pull her younger sister, Maggie Bishop, along to a second-place finish in 17:17.2.

Beashers' absence wasn't just felt in the individual race. Rogers AR wasn't able to defend its team title without its front runner.

No. 28 Bentonville AR scored 105 points to beat the No. 16 Mountaineers by 43 points. Freshman Flannery O'Daniel took home sixth-place honors, running 17:35.4 as Bentonville's top runner.

Rogers' top finisher was Samantha Schmersahl in 10th, running 17:53.7.

Ava Cornelius of Owasso OK secured third individually in 17:17.2 and Jenks OK scored 213 points for third in the team race.

The boys individual race came down to Free and Dominic Matthias going back and forth the last 1.5 kilometers.

Free of Mountain Home AR denied Matthias of a title by three seconds, running 14:44 to return individual title honors back to an Arkansas athlete a year after Ruel Newberry of Denton Guyer TX won the 2024 race as a freshman.

Matthias, sophomore at Moore OK, finished in 14:47.5 for second after leading throughout the race early on.

In the team race, favorite Bentonville fell at the hands of Missouri school for the second weekend in a row, finishing second Blue Springs South MO 121-143.

Bentonville finished second at the Gans Creek Classic on Sept. 27 to Liberty North MO. The Tigers held an early advantage over Blue Springs South through the first mile, 116-130. Blue Springs South made up ground at the 3.5-kilometer mark, taking the lead by three points before coming away with a 22-point victory.

Caden Scalfaro finished 15th in 15:29.2 and Kendrick Haines finished 16th in 15:35.3 to guide Blue Springs South.

Brian Burns finished third in 14:59.6 as Bentonville's top finisher.

Mountain Home, led by Free's individual win, finished third in the team race with 219 points.