Women's Cross Country | 10/3/2025 3:43:00 PM

The Cloud County Community College women's cross country team returns to action Saturday, October 4 when they compete at the annual Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival in Fayetteville, Arkansas, hosted by the University of Arkansas. The women's race begins at 12:10 pm.

The Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival is one of the premier running events in America. Typically, over 80 college teams and 120 high school teams battle for prestige and unique Chile Pepper awards. The T-Bird women will race in the Prairie Fire Pepper 5K, held at the University of Arkansas cross country course.

The Cloud County women's cross country team enters the race ranked No. 20 in the Week 2 edition of the 2025 NJCAA Division I Women's Cross Country National Coaches' Poll, which was released October 1 by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The T-Birds are coming off a 13th place finish in the gold division at the Woody Greeno/Jay Dirksen Invitational in Lincoln, Nebraska on September 20. The gold division consisted of runners from NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA and NJCAA schools.

Sophomore Mercy Angaamchaab finished in 19:17.81 to lead the T-Birds at 24th overall. Freshman Maureen Jepchirchir followed at 20:03.31 in 54th place. Freshman McKenzie Baker was 94th at 21:02.65. Sophomore Rafiatu Nuhu finished in 21:38.85 to place 108th, while freshman Jade Williams was 160th at 25:04.98.