LITTLE ROCK - The UALR men's and women's cross country teams will compete in their third event of the season on Saturday at the 24^th Annual Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival in Fayetteville, Ark. The annual event raises money for Northwest Arkansas cross country teams and features over 80 college teams, 120 high school teams and will host approximately 4,800 runners.

The UALR men, who are ranked 15th in the most recent United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) South Central Region poll, are coming off a third-place finish in the Blue Field at the Greater Louisville Classic on Sept. 7.

Felix Maritim led the way by placing eighth in the men's 8K among 362 individual runners in a time of 25:10.09. It was the second top-ten finish of the season for Maritim, as he also placed ninth in the men's 5K at the UALR Invitational back on Sept. 24.

Shaun Koehn was the second finisher for the Trojans in Louisville at No. 35 in a time of 25:40.23. Markus Pearson, the Trojans' top finisher at their season-opening UALR Invitational, placed 52^nd in a time of 25:51.63.

Marissa DeLaPaz was first in line for the Trojan women in Louisville with a 54^th-place finish in a time of 18:53.13. Mackenzie Bloom was next at No. 81 in 19:08.46, followed by Tori Copeland (156^th, 19:42.55).

Maritim led the UALR men at the 2011 Chile Pepper Festival, placing 19^th out of 288 runners and recording a new school-record 10K time of 30:15.7. Pearson was next in line amongst the UALR returners, placing 62^nd in 31:11.6.

For the UALR women at the 2011 Chile Pepper Festival, Bloom placed 141^st in 23:16.0 and DeLaPaz recorded a time of 23:26.2 for 151^st place.

The men's 10K at the Chile Pepper Festival will begin Saturday at 9:45 a.m. The women's 6K is scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m.