Both Missouri’s men’s and women’s cross country teams saw individual first place finishes and new course records at the second annual Gans Creek Classic race.
Redshirt senior Kieran Wood finished in first place with a time of 23:54.5, pacing the men to a first place team title. Wood broke the course record, set by former teammate Thomas George, by almost a minute.
Freshman William Sinclair and junior Martin Prodanov followed in fourth and fifth place with times of 24:13.7 and 24:37.6, and junior Marquette Wilhite and freshman Angus Beer rounded off the top five runners in 11th and 13th place. The Tigers scored 34 points, six points ahead of runner-up Texas A&M University.
“We talked about it all week,” Coach Marc Burns said. “We’re going to be second half racers today and really focus on that last 3k loop. That’s what our guys did and that was the difference.”
The women finished second to University of Arkansas, the reigning national champions. Senior Sarah Chapman came in first with a time of 20:01.1, dropping her own course record. Sophomore Ginger Murnieks finished in tenth place with a time of 20:46.1 and freshman McKenna Revord was the third Tiger to finish with a 15th place performance in 21:19.4.
Juniors Lexi Maddox and Reilly Revord were the final scorers in 25th and 27th. The women placed ahead of Vanderbilt University and Texas A&M University with 61 points.
“On the women’s side, I’m really proud of Sarah,” Burns said. “For Sarah to come out on top, it’s a really good sign of where she’s at. She’s on a whole other level.”
The team will remain at home for the Missouri XC Invitational on Friday, Oct. 16, the final meet before the SEC Championship race in Baton Rouge, La.
_Edited by Maia Bond | mbond@themaneater.com_