FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Golden Eagles Sibonokuhle Thwala and Ossly Murambidzi each grabbed a top 10 finish as the Oral Roberts cross country teams competed in the Chile Pepper Festival hosted by Arkansas Saturday morning.
 
The Golden Eagles men's team placed tenth overall out of 26 teams with 296 points, while the women's team came in 14th with 357 points.
 
Thwala led the way for ORU in the men's 8000 meters, placing eighth and running a 24:25.5. Brian Cheruiyot followed, finishing in 25:28.3 and placing 46th, while Ishmael Acheampong ran a 25:47.1 to place 61st. Sophomore Jackson Cook ran a 26:12.0 and placed 91st for the Golden Eagles.
 
Jonah Marvine was the next to cross the finish line for ORU, running a 26:22.1. Cornelius Kipkogei followed, finishing in 26:37.3. A pair of Golden Eagles– Lucas Espinosa and Victor Rosas– finished less than a second apart from each other, running a 26:43.9 and 26:44.8, respectively. Senior Jaxson Brooks ran a 27:08.3, followed by Brayden Scott who finished in 27:19.3. Braden Belew ran a 27:54.3 while Seth Meyer rounded out the ORU pack with a 29:13.0.
 
Murambidzi paced the Golden Eagles in the women's 5k, running a 16:41.9 to place tenth. Baylee Woodrich and Madeline Cabana followed, running an 18:03.1 and 18:12.4. Senior Lillian Woolery finished in 18:25.4, while freshman Sydney Lister finished in 18:34.2.
 
Helen Hesselgren was the next of the ORU women's squad to finish, running a 18:53.0. Her sister Emelia Hesselgren followed, running a 19:30.1. Morgan Lawrence closely trailed, finishing in 19:39.4.
 
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