FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas – Junior John Klein was the first Northwestern Demon to cross the finish line at the UA Chile Pepper Festival this afternoon. 

With a time of 27:22.0, Klein was 75th to finish out of the 348 runners competing in the first section of the men's 8-kilometer race. 

Junior Xavier Wilson came in second for the Demons with a new personal best in the 8k. Wilson ran a time of 27:49.5, shaving 23.3 seconds off of the last 8k he raced at the Arturo Barrios Invitational back in 2021. 

Coming in after Wilson was Korbin Shumate (28:45.0), Stefan Klefaz (29:51.1), and Waylon Wright (30:36.2). 

With only five runners competing, the Demons placed 28th out of the total 36 teams. 

"This was the largest, most competitive race we have been a part of and we were pushed by our competitors", Head Coach Dawson said. "I believe we responded very well to that today."

On the women's side, sophomore Leah Thompson was the first Lady Demon to cross the finish line. With a time of 20:48.1, Thompson finished 117th out of the 275-runner field. 

Freshman Ava-Grace Herbert ran her fourth 5k of the year, clocked a personal best of  21:09.4, and shaved 8 seconds off of her last PR at the McNeese Cowboy Stampede only a week ago. 

The Northwestern cross country teams will be taking the next few weeks to prepare and rest before the Southland Conference meet on Oct. 28. "We still have time to get more quality work in before we shift our focus to resting our bodies and minds for the conference meet.", Dawson said.