After taking care of business at the Billiken XC Invite, Missouri cross country turns their energy over this Friday, Sept. 25, as the Tigers host a heavy-hitting field at the eighth annual Gans Creek Classic.
The event will blend collegiate and high school action across a packed Friday and Saturday slate. For the Tigers, their racing day kicks off bright and early, with the women’s gold 6k race at 8:00 a.m., and the men’s gold 8k race at 9:00 a.m.
With a championship-caliber field featuring high-caliber
SEC programs, along with contenders from the Big Ten, ACC and top regional mid-majors like Drake, the Tigers aren’t just putting on a show for home fans, they’re using the meet as a critical mid-season benchmark.
Treating St. Louis as a ‘Training Effort’
Both the men and women captured second-place team scores in St. Louis last week, with notable results from Morgan Yeomans and Emmanuel Kiprop.
“I take almost nothing from times down there,” coach Kyle Levermore said. “It was not a full effort in any capacity. It was a training effort to prepare us a little bit better for what’s to come in the next few weeks.”
On the women’s side, Yeomans made an encouraging return to cross country after a late summer competing at the Canadian U20 Championships, where she finished fourth. Racing alongside solid efforts from Maleah Eggers and Elissa Barnard in the Billiken Invite, Yeomans showed early flashes of what she can bring to Mizzou’s core.
“She’s also developed a lot aerobically in the last year, and it’s kind of a fun question mark for us,” Levermore said. “I think she could sync up and really help us and help our depths. I’m excited for what that growth can look like, especially with women that are younger. I think that jump from year one to year two is a little bit of an unknown, but she came out of her freshman year healthy and having PR’d and and and you know, gotten really valuable experience, and so for me as a coach, those are kind of three green flags.”
Meanwhile, the men’s squad used the St. Louis trip to give younger runners vital race reps. Kiprop made his season debut for the Tigers at this meet, while Ethan Lee returned to cross country action after redshirting last season for student teaching, bringing valuable depth back into the fold.
“[Kiprop’s] trained exceptionally well,” Levermore said. “He arrived here back in June and took summer classes and has really had a long runway to prepare himself and he’s done an excellent job. I expect him to be a major contributor in our top five. I think he’ll push Elijah, he’ll push Raymond. You know he’ll push Jean.”
Veteran Growth
Veteran stars Raymond Kipkoech and Kobi Walker managed to take No.4 and No.5 in the USTFCCCA national coaches poll, while Monica Wanjiku and Carter Spradling claimed No.26 and No.28. Beyond their rankings, these Tigers have been with the program for at least a year now, showing up day in and day out.
“I think this year’s a big difference,” Levermore said. And especially kind of starting to see it in training is there’s maturity and there’s an understanding of our system and the way we want things done and the way we approach things. I think Kobi and Raymond are great examples of the kind of system that takes time but the system works if you stick to the plan.”
Protecting the Home Course
Friday morning Mizzou will unleash almost its entire roster.
The men’s group will look for strong pack running anchored by Tyler Freiner and Elijah Limo leading the charge alongside Raymond Kipkoech and other notable runners. On the women’s side, strong veteran leadership up front will come from Walker, Wanjiku and Suzy Lecoutre.
“I want to see us close hard, and I want to see us run like we know how to race our course better than anyone else,” Levermore said. “And really, it’ll be a nice evaluation for us headed into Wisconsin, and then headed back to our home course in championship season of like, where do we need to improve to do what we want to do now at the national level.”
This meet will be the ultimate tune-up before the Tigers head off to face national competition at the Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational, and an early preview of the results Mizzou hopes to make when the postseason comes around later this fall.
Live resultswill be posted on PrimeTime Timing.
To read more about Missouri’s cross country team, follow@Rock MNation and @SophBleedsLA on twitter/X. Photos will come courtesy of Mizzou TFXC photographer Dan Murphy at @danmurphmedia on Instagram.
