Both the Ole Miss Men’s and Women’s Cross Country squads earned top-10 team finishes amid a large Gans Creek Classic field in Columbia, Mo., on Sept. 25.
Out of a 30-team field for the 8-kilometer race, the Rebel men, led by Kidus Misgina, finished No. 5.
In his season debut for the Rebels, Misgina executed his classic “start from behind” strategy to perfection.
At the 1-kilometer mark, Misgina was buried in place No. 105, but with each kilometer split, Misgina sped up while others slowed down. Out of the entire field, Misgina had the fastest 6K and 7K splits, which brought him near the front of the race.
In the end, Misgina finished No. 4 overall in 22:42.6, just nine seconds back from the winner.
Next for the Rebels was Zack Gilbertson, who finished No. 25 with a time of 23:24.5. Behind him was John Shoemaker, who employed a similar strategy to Misgina and finished No. 50 overall in 23:51.5.
To round out the Rebel scorers, sophomore Owen Kelley finished No. 60 and fellow sophomore Ky Hehir finished No. 67.
In the women’s race, the Rebels finished No. 8 out of 29 teams. To earn their position, the Rebel women employed a slightly different strategy than the men.
From the gun, the Rebels stuck together. At the 1-kilometer split, their spread, or the time difference between the first-scoring Rebel and the fifth-scoring Rebel, was an excellent 1.5 seconds. As the race progressed, the Ole Miss pack broke up, but the Rebels continued to run together in pairs.
At the conclusion of the 6-kilometer race, Alicia Finnis led the Rebels across the line with a No. 26 finish and time of 20:18.4. The Rebels then flooded across the line.
Just 10 seconds back from Finnis in No. 37 place was sophomore Addy Mitchell with a time of 20:29.1. Third for the Rebels was Adrienne Luna in 20:34.8 for spot No. 42, and Brooke Preputnick and Zoe Marsh rounded out the Rebel scorers with their No. 42 and No. 57 finishes, respectively.
Overall, both Rebel teams had good showings, proving that they have what it takes to compete with top teams this year. More importantly, the Rebels gained valuable experience for the SEC Championships on Oct. 30, which will take place on the very same Missouri course.
A full video replay of both races can be found here, and complete results can be found here.
What’s next?
The men’s team will travel to Madison, Wis., for the Nuttycombe Invitational on Oct. 9, and the women’s will travel to Terre Haute, Ind., for the Pre Nationals meet on Oct. 16.
