University of North Texas Athletics
University of North Texas
Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival
Mean Green Men Earn Impressive Runner-Up Finish at Chile Pepper Festival
10/3/2026 2:36:00 PM | Track & Field/XC
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The North Texas cross country teams turned in a strong showing Saturday at the Chile Pepper XC Festival, highlighted by an impressive runner-up finish from the Mean Green men.
Senior Connor Bartek led North Texas with a fourth-place finish, crossing the line in 24:10.7, just 1.9 seconds off his personal best. Junior Nolan House followed in 11th with a time of 24:29.5, finishing just 2.2 seconds shy of his PR.
Junior Hunter Hendry added a personal-best performance, finishing 22nd in 24:52.6. Matt Montgomery placed 35th in 25:14.6, just one-tenth of a second off his personal best, while Joseph Wienen followed in 37th at 25:19.7.
AJ Hawkins finished 66th in 25:49.8, and Luke Anderson also recorded a personal best with a time of 26:00.6.
The collective effort helped North Texas secure second place overall in the men's race.
"I was proud of today's efforts as it was our first true test of the season," head coach Jafet said. "We saw a lot of breakthroughs and PRs from both groups. We're looking forward to A&M in two weeks."
On the women's side, North Texas finished ninth overall with 240 points, led by senior Ximena Lopez de Escalera.
Lopez de Escalera placed 12th overall with a new UNT personal-best time of 16:48.4. Sophomore Aubrey Milam also recorded a new personal best, finishing 24th in 17:06.6.
Aditi Silwal finished 57th in 17:50.6, while Destiny Hernandez posted a new PR of 17:55.0 to place 65th. Freshman Ava Thompson also recorded a new UNT personal best, finishing in 18:35.9.
North Texas will return to action Friday, Oct. 16, at the Arturo Barrios Invitational in College Station, Texas. The men's race is scheduled for 8:30 a.m., followed by the women's race at 9:15 a.m.
