Braelyn Combe wins Chile Pepper 5k, Razorbacks claim team title

FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas freshman Braelyn Combe won the women’s 5,000m by one tenth of a second on the last stride of the race at the 39th Chile Pepper Festival leading the Razorbacks to a team title with 69 points.

Dorcas Jepkosgei of UT Arlington led the field in the final stages of the race and as she raised her arms to celebrate near the finish line, Combe passed her and claimed victory in 15:59.0 while Jepkosgei placed second in 15:59.1. Tulsa’s Kathryn Koonts (16:03.7) finished third.

“This is so much fun, just getting to wear this uniform is such a blessing,” stated Combe. “Going down the homestretch I could hear Coach Burns yelling ‘you can win this thing.’

“I’ve been watching Paityn’s freshman year when she won Chile Pepper. Then I was racing next to her in this race. When your surrounded by amazing and inspiring athletes like Paityn, she was kind of coaching me through it. With 1k to go, she said we’re going to go now.”

Arkansas women’s cross country coach Marc Burns added: “What a race, I’m really excited and proud of Braelyn. She comes into the program with a lot of high expectations based on how successful she was in high school.

“A lot of those expectations were centered around the mile, 2 mile, and maybe the 800m. We kept telling her, you’re going to be fine, you’re going to be a great cross country runner. I think she just took a step in that direction and probably proved a lot to herself.”

Behind the 69 points by Arkansas, which included team places of 1-7-11-23-27, Mississippi State finished second with 83 points (8-9-13-19-36) while Tulsa claimed third with 89 (3-8-22-26-30) with UT Arlington fourth (178).

“It’s a great team win,” stated Burns. “We were without the services today of Isca Chelangat, Gabbie Bishop, Olivia Pielemeier, and Joshine Mwaura who are four impactful people.

“So, for the team to step up and compete the way they did, top to bottom, I’m just really proud of the effort that they gave today.”

The time by Combe is the third fastest ever in the history of the Chile Pepper Festival and ranks as the top time by a freshman.

The Arkansas tandem of Mia Cochran and Paityn Noe each posted a time of 15:56.3 in 2024 to break the previous meet record of 16:01.0 set by Razorback Dominique Scott in 2014. Arkansas’ Sydney Vaught won the 2025 race in 16:03.0.

Noe, the last Razorback freshman to win at Chile Pepper in 2023 with a 16:09.4, made her season debut and registered her first race since the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships when she finished fourth in the 10,000m with a career best 31:36.91 and sixth in the 5,000m (15:35.81).

Finishing seventh in the Chile Pepper 5k, Noe clocked 16:17.8 and was the second Razorback. Jayden Hill placed 11th and covered the course in 16:43.1. In her Arkansas debut, Emmaculate Chepngetich finished 23rd (17:05.5) while Marissa Ferebee rounded out the Razorbacks team score in 27th (17:12.9).

The sixth runner for Arkansas, Makenna Herbst, posted a time of 18:30.0 in her cross country debut to place 95th among a field of 249.

Noe and Combe were equal eighth at the mile split in 5:16.6. At the 3.5k split, Noe (11:40.8) held a slight edge over Combe (11:41.1) in sixth and seventh place. Jepkosgei shared the lead at 3.5k in 11:29.9 with Baylor’s Ruth Kimeli ahead of Koonts (11:30.8).

Closing strong in the final 500m of the race, Combe made up ground on Jepkosgei and caught her at the finish line.

“She made a big move down the hill,” said Burns. “When you make that turn it’s about 500m from the finish. I was about 450m out, and I start yelling you can win, go win. She turned on the jets and made up a lot of ground.

“How cool is that, it’s racing 101, you don’t quit until you get to the line. The arms went up on the other girl, and Braelyn went right underneath them and got the win. That was a masterclass on how to finish a race.”

Combe noted: “I don’t how much I like cross country, but I’m liking it more every day. It helps to have teammates that are your best friends.”