NCAA® South Central Region Championship

NCAA South Central Region Championship: Friday, November 10, 2023 | Free Admission
Women’s 6,00m | 10:30 a.m.
Men’s 10,000m | 11:30 a.m.
all times CST

About the Course (Facility Photos)

AGRI PARK | The University of Arkansas is one of a handful of universities in North America with its own dedicated cross country course. Carved out of a portion of the University of Arkansas’ on-campus agricultural area – hence the name Agri Park – the course provides the men’s and women’s cross country teams with an excellent practice and competition area.

The 1996 season saw the first two events at Agri Park, the Chile Pepper Run and Arkansas Invitational. Starting in 1997, the two reunited into the single Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival. The current course configuration has three distinct areas. The open area of the starting chute is separated from the pond and Razorback Meadow by a grove of trees surrounding the former site of one of Fayetteville’s old eateries, the Farmer’s Daughter.

The Agri Park site is extremely versatile. During the Chile Pepper Festival, seven divisions compete on distances ranging from the mile-long fun-run for children to the collegiate/open 10,000 meters – all using the same start and finish areas.

The women’s collegiate course was initially configured as a figure 8. In 1997, the collegiate races changed to a double loop for women, triple loop for men. Fans can watch the start, then walk up the Farmer’s Daughter hill for view of the main loop and finish chute. In 2000, a new 6,000-meter course was created for the Chile Pepper Festival and the NCAA South Central Region meets.

More detail for the women’s 6K course: the first mile mark is near the pond, the course then winds through agricultural fields and a few small groves of trees before coming to the 2 mile mark, the course follows the tree line down past the starting line and into the meadow and then back up to the top of the hill near the pond, the 3 mile mark is just before approaching the last big down-hill of the course.  There is approximately a 400 meter straight run-in to the finish.

More detail for the men’s 10K course: the first mile mark is near the pond, the course then winds through agricultural fields and a few small groves of tree before coming to the 2 mile mark, the course follows the tree line down past the starting line and into the meadow where the second loop of the course begins repeating all of the first loop until the end of the meadow where a hair-pin turn is made with a 100 meter sprint into the finish.  The 3 mile mark is on the second loop at the top of the hill as the course turns to wind back toward the rim of the pond. The 4 mile mark at the end of the agricultural fields is just before approaching a right-hand turn and the second grove of trees.

Team Directions to the Course

The Agri Park Cross Country course is located north of the main University of Arkansas campus. Teams attending the South Central Region meet can reach the course by turning west off of North Gregg Street.

From the main campus:

• Leave campus heading north on Garland Avenue (Highway 112)
• Continue north through the University farm, passing the Agri Park pavilion on the right
• Approximately 1/2 mile north of the pavilion, turn right on Drake Street

Driving into Fayetteville:

• From I-49, take the Highway 112 exit
• Turn south (toward Fayetteville) on Highway 112
• Drake Street is less than a 1/4 mile off I-49, turn left
• Now you are on Drake Street
• Drake dead-ends into Gregg Street, turn right
• Course entrance is approximately 1/4 mile, partially hidden by trees, on the right

Teams will have parking access behind the start area of the course.

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