The 38th Annual Chile Pepper is fast approaching, and things are heating up for our freshman competition: 134 freshmen boys and 195 freshmen girls will toe the line in “El Caliente.” Here is the reshmen athlete-watch list.
Top-Seeded Freshman Boys:
- Bentonville’s Ethan Lechuga — Lechuga has had an outstanding season. Coming into Chile Pepper, Lechuga is seeded 42nd at 15:41.6. He ran that time at the Southlake 5K XC Invite, where he finished 26th overall. He finished 51st at Gans Creek Classic, running 15:54.6 in the Elite division. Lechuga is ranked first on the Arkansas's Most Impressive Freshmen
- Southlake Carroll A’s Gia-Bao To — To holds a PR of 16:04.2. He raced at the Southlake 5K XC Invitational, finishing 76th in 16:36:10, and at the Ray Braswell Invitational, he finished 3rd in 16:04.3, putting him on the Silver Elite standard.
- Deer Creek’s Jaxon Jones — Jones enters the race with a 16:05.60 PB. He ran that time at the Southlake 5K XC Invite, finishing 46th overall. Jones was also ranked as the top Oklahoma City metro freshman based on season-best 5K times
- Blue Valley A’s Alexander Moenster — Moenster enters the race with a 16:17.20 mark from Olathe Twilight, where he placed 26th in the Varsity Red Division.
- Wylie East’s Carson Clark — Clark is seeded with his 16:21 PR, which he ran at the DUBeast XC Inviational #2, slotting him 7th in the Elite division.
- Deer Creek A’s Lucas Buxton — Buxton enters the race with a 16:33.10 to his name. He ran that time at the Southlake 5K XC Invite, where he helped Deer Creek finish 4th as a team. Buxton was also ranked 2nd among Oklahoma City metro freshmen based on season-best 5K times.
Top-Seeded Freshman Girls:
1) Fort Worth Nolan Catholic’s Haley Fernandez enters the race with a 17:23.2 best, run at the Lovejoy XC Fall Festival, where she finished 2nd in the Varsity Elite race, earning a Gold Elite status. Fernandez is ranked 2nd on the Texas's Most Impressive Freshmen list.
2) Shiloh Christian’s Kaelyn Allen enters the race at 17:53.5, which she ran at the Gans Creek Classic, finishing 13th in the Elite division. She also competed at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic, where she ran 17:00.3 for 3 miles and was the fastest Arkansas girl in the meet. Allen is listed as 2nd on the Arkansas's Most Impressive Freshmen list.
3) Shiloh Christian’s Briana Allen holds a PR of 18:02.6 from the Gans Creek Classic, where she finished 19th. Earlier in the season, she finished 5th at the Memphis Twilight XC Classic in 18:44.6.
4) Broken Arrow’s Jane Eller enters the race with an 18:12.3 mark. Eller ran that at the Rogers State Distance After Dark, finishing 2nd overall in the girls 5A–6A 5K, and earning a Gold elite status.
5) Shiloh Christian’s Elizabeth Allen enters the race with an 18:14.3. Allen ran this time at the Gans Creek Classic, finishing 23rd. Earlier in the season, she finished 6th at the Memphis Twilight XC Classic in 18:48.8.
6) Hockaday’s Nora Petrikas enters the race with a PR of 18:44.8 from the Waxahachie Woodhouse XC Invitational, where she finished 12th in the Elite Varsity Girls race. She later ran 19:26.0 at the Marcus Coach T Invitational.
