FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Sophomore Brianna Vargas and freshman Piper Ames each posted collegiate-best 5K times Saturday afternoon (Oct. 3) as three John Brown University women's cross country runners competed in the Prairie Fire Pepper 5K at the Chile Pepper Festival at Agri Park.
Vargas led the Golden Eagles across the line in 21:11, finishing 116th overall and cutting 42 seconds from her previous 5K best of 21:53 set at the Missouri State Queen City After Dark. Ames followed in 121st at 21:23, trimming 45 seconds from the 22:08 she posted in her 5K collegiate debut in Springfield.
Junior Cecily Snyder completed the JBU contingent in 165th with a time of 22:55.
With only three runners competing, John Brown did not record a team score. The limited lineup was by design, as JBU held its top 13 women out of competition during the final weekend of its current training block.
"I'm proud of our athletes for putting together a strong effort today," noted program director Peter Cunningham. "With many of our top runners resting on both the men's and women's sides, this group executed a lot of things really well.
"It was exciting to see Brianna lead the ladies and establish her own pace without teammates ahead of her to key off of. That's a great day."
The Prairie Fire race was contested in cool conditions around 70 degrees on a course head coach Peter Cunningham described as an honest layout capable of producing fast times.
Arkansas Tech won the 22-team Prairie Fire Pepper 5K with 38 points and a team time of 1:32:30.
The Blue and Gold return home Saturday (Oct. 10) for the Golden Eagle Invitational at Pollard's Field in Siloam Springs.
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