FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Zouhair Talbi from Oklahoma City University captured the victory in the Chile Pepper Festival on Friday evening at Agri Park.
Talbi crossed the finish line ahead of a stacked field including two men's cross country teams ranked among the NCAA Division I's top 15 – eighth-ranked Arkansas and 12th-rated Tulsa – as well as three squads in NCAA Division II's top 10 – top-ranked Colorado Mines, No. 4 Augustana (S.D.) and eighth-ranked Alabama-Huntsville.
In the 8,000-meter race, Talbi, a junior from Tighassaline, Khenifra, Morocco, completed the run in 23 minutes, 28.5 seconds. Talbi finished five seconds in front of Myles Richter from the University of Arkansas and 11.2 seconds ahead of third-place finisher Dillon Powell of Colorado Mines. Richter took 10th in the NCAA Championships as a freshman.
Talbi topped his career-best mark of 23:45.2 that he won the 2020-21 NAIA individual championship with in his season debut. Talbi has won all five of the cross country races he has competed in during his OCU career. On Friday, Talbi held second place through the 3.5-kilometer mark before making his move. His average mile time came out to 4:43.3.
The Stars, ranked 11th in the NAIA, took seventh in the team standings with 297 points. OCU's Shimales Abebe seized eighth place, turning in a time of 24:06.2. Abebe, a sophomore from Los Angeles, averaged 4:50.9 per mile. Abebe came through with his second top-20 finish in a row after a 17th-place showing in the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree on Sept. 18 in Stillwater, Okla.
"Zouhair and Shimales both had another great performance to solidify their spot among the nation's best across all collegiate divisions," OCU coach Frezer Legesse said. "We had an all-around great performance on both sides. We're still far out from championship season, so it's very encouraging to put together a great team performance against great competition."
Milos Pendic, a senior from Nova Sesnaesta, Raska, Serbia, finished next for the Stars with a mark of 25:21.9. Milan Todorovic recorded a time of 26:08.8.
Also finishing for OCU were Beckam Hartis (26:26.4), Brendan Robeaux (26:56.1), Joseph Engel (27:02.4), Paul Welch (27:19.8), Fares Marrouf (27.49.7), Tanner Huffman (29:08.1) and Tate Smithhart (30.12.9).
The Stars' next race will be the NAIA Mid-States Classic on Oct. 23 in Winfield, Kan.
