Missouri Cross Country raced at their last home meet of the season, with both teams scoring in the top ten at the Gans Creek Invitational on Friday, Sept. 27. 

The men started the meet off with the 8,000-meter race, running against 36 other schools. The Tigers finished fourth in the overall standings. 

Ryder James finished as the top racer for the Tigers, placing No.11 overall with a time of 23:24.8 after climbing five spots in the last kilometer. From a slow start to finishing with a high placement, James was one of 15 runners who broke the Gans Creek cross-country record for the 8,000-meter race. 

“There’s a lot of elite guys in that top pack, so it was definitely intimidating, but I just had a really good day,” James said “Felt really solid throughout the whole race as well. I was super happy.” 

Although James has been moved in and out of the lineup, he managed to separate and rank highly in today’s meet. 

“I started getting emotional, because I’m just really proud of [James], like super, super proud of that,” head coach Kyle Levermore said. 

The next highest finish was Drew Rogers, placing No.26 overall with a time of 23:44.4. Blake Morris,Tyler Friener and Declan Tunney all finished between No. 45-55 within 30 seconds of one another. 

“I put out a different eight, nine, ten today than two weeks ago, and Declan Tunney was unreal today,” Levermore said.  “That’s probably the best race I’ve seen him run.” 

The women’s team competed in a 6,000-meter race against 38 other schools, placing 10th overall. 

Arkansas State transfer Rahel Broemmel was the top finisher for the women, placing No.16 with a time of 20:25.2 minutes. Nicole Louw was the next finisher placing No. 52 with a time of 21:08.6. Following her, McKenna Revord placed No. 77 at 21:25.2 minutes. The final scorer was freshman Charlotte Cullen at No. 91. 

“In general, I’m very happy with my race today,” Broemmel said. “The whole team did very good, and it was a step in the right direction.’’ 

Stanford won the invitational for both men and women. In the men’s they finished with 31 points in the 8,000-meter race. On the women’s side they finished with 44 points in the 6,000-meter race. 

Auburn’s runner Brenda Jepchirchir placed first with a time of 19:50.1 minutes, breaking the Gans Creek cross country record for the women’s 6,000-meter race. 

Kentucky’s runner Edward Bird placed first for the men’s 8,000-meter race with a time of 23:07.6 minutes.

The Tigers head to their next away meet against Alabama for the Crimson Classic on Oct. 18 in Tuscaloosa, AL. 

Edited by Dylan Heinrich | dheinrich@themaneater.com

Copyedited by Natalie Kientzy | nkientzy@themaneater.com

Edited by Emily Skidmore | eskidmore@themaneater.com