The No. 19 men’s and No. 21 women’s Mizzou cross country teams are set to compete in their final race of the 2025 regular season on Friday morning, the Pre-National Invitational, at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course.
Friday morning’s event opens with the women’s invitational 6k at 10 a.m., followed by the men’s invitational 8k at 10:45 a.m.
The Pre-National Invitational is a ticketed event. Fans are encouraged to enter through the sidewalk furthest from the starting line to scan or purchase tickets and enter the venue. Plan ahead and save time by purchasing tickets now at $12 per person.
The women’s race features six nationally ranked teams: No. 1 BYU, No. 3 Florida, No. 14 Penn State, No. 19 Villanova, No. 23 Boston College and No. 30 Tennessee. On the men’s side, five teams of the nation’s best will be in Columbia: No. 6 BYU, No. 22 Arkansas, No. 24 Ole Miss, No. 26 Eastern Kentucky and No. 30 Loyola-Chicago.
Mizzou’s women will be represented by Elissa Barnard, Natalie Barnard, Rahel Broemmel, Mirriam Chepkirui, Pheline Mining, Charlotte Cullen, Maleah Eggers, Lily Ginsberg, Suzy Lecoutre, Allison Newman, Kobi Walker and Monica Wanjiku.
The men’s Tigers will see Joshua Allison, Louie Endres, Tyler Freiner, Ryder James, Raymond Kipkoech, Elijah Limo, Jamie Mora, Austin Poppelwell, Drew Rogers and Carter Spradling race for the Black & Gold.
The Pre-National Invitational caps off the Tigers’ regular season campaign. It marks the third event that Gans Creek will host before the 2025 NCAA Cross Country Championships on November 22.
In the team’s most recent meet, the seventh annual Gans Creek Classic on September 26, saw the history books rewritten, with the men’s gold 8k establishing an all-new top-25 list and women’s gold 6k securing 22 new course records. Limo clocked a personal best of 23:13.0 in the 8k to take 36th and lead the men to a 12th-place finish. Wanjiku earned 11th in her cross country debut with a 19:35.1 in the 6k, leading the women to claim eighth.
The Gans Creek Course, located on the south side of Columbia, is a 320-acre park designed as a state-of-the-art cross country facility. The area’s rolling terrain offers challenging two- and three-kilometer loops that have made it a premier destination for competitive events.
Thanks to its high-quality design and facilities, Gans Creek has hosted several prestigious meets, including the MSHSAA Cross Country Championships, the 2021 SEC Championships, and the 2022 NCAA Cross Country Midwest Regional Championships. Its reputation continues to grow as a top venue for state, regional, and national competitions, including the 2025 NCAA Cross Country National Championship.
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