Freshman Paityn Noe wins Chile Pepper 5k, leads Arkansas to team title
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas freshman Paityn Noe led the No. 20 Razorbacks to its 11th consecutive team title in the 35th Chile Pepper Festival held on a hot Friday evening for racing at Agri Park.
Noe covered the Harter’s Habanero 5,000m course in a time of 16 minutes, 9.4 seconds to better the field by 34.7 seconds amid temperatures in the high 80s. This marked the fifth consecutive year for a Razorback to claim the women’s individual title.
Arkansas scored 20 points for the team victory over SMU (89) and Western Colorado (121). The rest of the top 10 teams included UT Arlington (169), Arkansas State (220), Central Arkansas (232), Lamar (241), TCU (313), Missouri State (322), and Missouri Southern (341).
Covering the first mile in 5:12.5 and reaching the 3.5k mark in 11:35.2, Noe trailed teammate Sydney Thorvaldson (5:06.8) at the mile, and the pulled even at 3.5k. Thorvaldson finished second in the race with a 16:44.1 while Arkansas also claimed third and fourth place with the tandem of Laura Taborda and Heidi Nielson, who finished in 16:49.8 and 16:56.9, respectively.
Noe is the first Arkansas freshman to win the Chile Pepper 5,000m race since 2018 (Katrina Robinson 16:15.3) and she posted the fourth fastest winning time over the past eight races to the 15:45.4 by Arkansas’ Taylor Werner in 2019, a 15:58.0 posted by Razorback Isabel Van Camp last year, as well as the 16:07.2 by Dominique Scott of Arkansas in 2015.
“Coming in I knew I was fit, but I didn’t know where I was honestly,” said Noe, who produced a cross country 5k best of 16:48.6 in high school along with a 16:04.69 on the track. “The heat was a little tough, but we had the home course advantage since we’ve been training on it. So, I knew what I needed to do and how it would feel in the critical places. It helped me get the time I ran today.
“It’s awesome to have a team that pushes me every day in practice. We can just work off each other in the race and help each other really well. It’s definitely real exciting for the rest of the season.”
Chile Pepper Festival | Recent Arkansas 5k winners
| Year | Winner | Top Freshman |
| 2023 | 16:09.4 Paityn Noe (Ark) | 16:09.4 Paityn Noe (Ark) |
| 2022 | 15:58.0 Isabel Van Camp (Ark) | 16:32.0 Sydney Thorvaldson (Ark) |
| 2021 | 16:24.3 Krissy Gear (Ark) | 17:14.5 Carmie Prinsloo (Ark) |
| 2019 | 15:45.4 Taylor Werner (Ark) | 16:59.8 Beth Ramos (Tx) |
| 2018 | 16:15.3 Katrina Robinson (Ark) | 16:15.3 Katrina Robinson (Ark) |
| 2017 | 16:23.1 Aminat Olowara (OkCity) | 16:48.0 Ashton Endsley (Ark) |
| 2016 | 16:09.5 Karissa Schweizer (Mo) [3.1M] | 16:30.7 Taylor Werner (Ark) |
| 2015 | 16:07.2 Dominique Scott (Ark) | 16:28.6 Devin Clark (Ark) |
Following the first four places in the race, the next Razorback finished 10th with Mia Cochran clocking 17:15.0 in leading Mary Ellen Eudaly (17:17.0) and Mackenzie Rogers (17:17.6) across the line in 11th and 12th place.
Out of that group of seven Razorbacks, Taborda was the lone senior with five sophomores and a freshman.
Other Razorbacks in the race included Nyah Hernandez (18:16.3), Tiana LoStracco (18:30.7), and Chachi Gonzales (19:04.1). Competing unattached were Camryn Kirkland (18:56.2) and Audrey Hill (19:25.4).
