FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (Oct. 1, 2016) – Harding men's cross-country raced against its largest field of the season Saturday and placed 10th of 45 non-Division I teams at the Chile Pepper Cross-Country Festival. The Bisons had 382 points.

CSU-Pueblo won the 5K non-Division I race with 80 points. Southwest Baptist was second with 90 points and Colorado School of Mines was third with 94.

Junior Lawson Belcher led the Bisons with a 56th-place finish among well over 300 runners. Belcher, who was Harding's top runner for the first time in his career, finished in 25 minutes, 45.82 seconds.

Vincent Kiprop of Missouri Southern State won in 23:03.88, almost a full minute faster than second-place Derrick Williams of CSU-Pueblo (24:01.92).

Sophomore Larry Lopez was second among Harding runners, placing 73rd in 26:01.62. Also in the Bisons' top five were freshman Barteck Kwiecinski (78th, 26:05.77); senior Daniel Evans (87th, 26:17.11); and senior Jonathan Jackson(88th, 26:18.85).

Next Saturday, Harding runs again at the Ozarks Invitational in Clarksville, Arkansas.