Missouri State Cross Country finished eighth overall in a field of 34 at the 2009 Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark.  Sophomore Terry Phillips (Kansas City, Mo.) was the top Bear finisher with a time of 21:26.09, good enough for 12^th place individually.  Following Phillips was freshman Emily Beaver (Diamond, Mo.) with a time of 22:19.07, good for 47^th overall.  In every meet for the Bears this season, Phillips has been the top finisher.

"Terry and Emily ran the race plan they were given," Missouri State head coach Greg Hipp said, " Terry was supposed to start out in the top 20 and work her way into the top 15.  Emily was to work her way into the top 50.  They really executed their race plans and excelled."

The field of 34 featured some of the top cross country runners from across the Midwest.  In last season's NCAA Midwest Regional, Oklahoma State's Mihaela Susa placed 11^th overall, while Missouri State's Terry Phillips finished at 21st.  The Chile Pepper Festival was the first time the two runners have met since last season's regional.  In this race, however, Phillips topped Susa, who finished 28^th.  In the team scoring, Missouri State, who entered the race ranked 14^th in the Midwest, finished two spots behind Oklahoma State, who was ranked 13^th and finished sixth in team scoring.

This meet was the first 6K race for the team this season.  Course conditions were also very poor, with mud and puddles prevalent throughout the course.  Though the finish was about where coach Hipp expected to finish, he sees great potential in this season's Bears.

"We had excellent races from Terry (Phillips) and Emily (Beaver)." Hipp said, "It was an extremely muddy course and times were slower than normal.  Our three, four and five runners have a lot of potential and if we execute our race plans, we will be very good when we head to Bradley"

The Bear's next meet will be the MVC Championship, hosted by Bradley University in Peoria, Ill on Oct. 31.  The races begin at noon.  The following race will be the 2009 NCAA Midwest Regional, hosted by Missouri State on Nov. 14 at noon.