Fayetteville, Arkansas - The Tiger women's cross country team placed ninth and the Tiger men finished 16th at the University of Arkansas Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival on Saturday.

Trinity's women scored 242 points in the event, which consisted of 25 teams from outside of Division I competition. The Tiger men had 458 points for their finish among 27 non-Division I teams.

Michelle Oberndorf ran the women's 5k in 18:43.1, and posted a No. 135 finish among 375 competitors. She was just four seconds from her career best.  Trinity's top men's runner was Taylor Piske, who crossed the finish line in the 8k in 26:15.5. Piske placed 140th of 429 runners, and his current marks are well ahead of his performances at this time last year.

Melissa Whitman completed the women's race in 18:45.8, and Lexi Phelps ran the event in 19:02.2.  Overall, the Tiger women had nine runners finish in under 20:00, and eight of those were faster than their top time at the last meet.  Trinity had eight runners earn times that rank in the top 20 in school history.

The Trinity men's team was competing in its first 8k race of the season, and several Tiger newcomers had their first career 8k event.  Austin Brown finished in 26:57.7, which is nearly two minutes faster than his personal record.  Michael Erickson and Jacob Hammond both put up strong times for their first 8k.

The Tigers will compete in the University of Incarnate Word Invitational on Saturday, October 11, at Live Oak, Texas.

RESULTS:

Men's Individual
Men's Team

Women's Individual
Women's Team