The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Chile Pepper Festival
Cross Country preview: Chile Pepper Festival
10.02.2026 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Longhorns return to action Saturday at one of the nation’s largest cross country festivals.
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Cross Country returns to competition Saturday at the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The men's 8K is scheduled for 10:25 a.m., followed by the women's 5K at 11:25 a.m. at Agri Park.
Cross Country at Chile Pepper Festival
When: Saturday, Oct. 3 | Men's 8K: 10:25 a.m. | Women's 5K: 11:25 a.m.
Where: Agri Park | Fayetteville, Arkansas
The Longhorns enter the meet after combining for 13 new personal bests at the Gans Creek Classic on Sept. 25 in Columbia, Missouri. The meet also marked Texas' first competition on the course that will host the SEC Cross Country Championships on Oct. 30.
Sophomore Aidan Torres leads the Texas men after opening the season with individual victories at both the Floyd Farms Invitational and Texas A&M Invitational. He went on to earn SEC Men's Runner of the Week and USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Men's National Athlete of the Week honors, becoming the first Longhorn to receive each award in cross country.
Freshman Kai McCullough has also made an early impact, earning SEC Men's Freshman of the Week honors in each of the first two weeks of the season. He finished fourth at Floyd Farms and seventh at the Texas A&M Invitational before recording a new 8K best of 24:04.3 at the Gans Creek Classic.
The Texas women enter Saturday's 5K after racing a 6K for the first time this season at the Gans Creek Classic. Seven Longhorns established new 6K bests at the meet, led by Isabel Conde De Frankenberg, who placed 53rd in 20:43.5.
The Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival was established in 1992 and has grown into one of the largest cross country festivals in the nation, attracting approximately 6,500 runners and more than 7,000 spectators each year. The event was consolidated into a single festival in 1997 after bringing together three northwest Arkansas cross country races.
Agri Park serves as the home course for the University of Arkansas men's and women's cross country programs. The course was carved from an on-campus agricultural area and features open, relatively flat sections in Razorback Meadow along with more contoured terrain around the pond.
