Fayetteville, Ark. – The Northwest Missouri State men's and women's cross country team's both posted top 10 finishes Saturday as they ran in the Arkansas Chile Pepper Invitational.

The consistent rainfall delayed the start of the race and caused the course to be very difficult. "It was one of the muddiest courses I had seen in a long time," said head coach Scott Lorek. "I am very proud of our kids and how they ran in those conditions."

Nolan Zimmer finished first for Northwest and 33rd in a field of 327 runners with a time of 25:28.8. Drew Keefer finished 92nd running in a time of 26:26.2.

The Bearcats finished eighth among 21 colleges with an average time of 26:35.3 defeating Central Arkansas, Louisiana State University, Oral Roberts and Texas Christian University.

Anne Herbert was the top finisher on the women's side as she ran the 5K in a time of 18:49.9 which was good enough for 53rd out of 318 runners. Katie Carroll came in at number 102 with a time of 19:35.7.

Northwest finished ninth out of 24 colleges with an average time of 19:43.7 and finished ahead of Louisiana State University, Oral Roberts, Arkansas Little Rock, Texas Christian University and Missouri State.

The Bearcats will be running in the Fort Hays State Open Saturday in Hays, Kan.