No. 9 ISU, Rop Victorious at Gans Creek Classic

COLUMBIA, Missouri – No. 9 Iowa State showed its strength once again at the Gans Creek Classic on Friday morning, putting up another dominant team performance along with Ezekiel Rop picking up his second individual victory in as many meets.

Rop's victory at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in 23:34.2 led Iowa State to a score of 26, 94 points ahead of second-place Illinois. The Cyclones demonstrated impressive depth with eight student-athletes in the top-18 of the final standings, including a pair of freshmen.

Rop was always in the lead group, which consisted of six guys, including teammate Chad Johnson as the lead group crossed at 12 minutes at the 4K mark. The sixth kilometer of the race proved to be the turning point, as the lead group was reduced to three and Rop took over the lead for good from Iowa's Max Murphy. The seventh kilometer saw Rop put the victory out of consideration from the field, as he blitzed to a split of 2:49.2 (the fastest in the race to that point) to have a four second lead heading to the final kilometer, which he closed in 2:50.2 to post a nearly five-second win over Kansas' Chandler Gibbens.

Behind him, the Cyclones had big finishes from a trio of their own. The fastest split of the race was run by Gable Sieperda in the final 1,000m, as he went 2:46.8, which included a pass of Iowa's Murphy to finish third in 23:43.0. Titus Winders and Johnson both went 2:47 in the final 1,000 with Winders moving up a spot and Johnson two spots for final finishes of fifth for Winders (23:45.4) and sixth for Johnson (23:45.6). Timothy Sindt wrapped up the ISU scoring contingent in 11th in 23:53.5.

Freshman Seth Clevenger continued to impress, as he closed the final 1,000m in 2:52.0 to move up three spots and finish 15th in 24:03.0. Nehemia Too took 17th in 24:06.7 and was followed by another true freshman, Emanuel Galdino, in 18th in 24:09.1.

Up Next
The Cyclones' men's and women's teams will both next be in action at the Nuttycombe Invitational, hosted by Wisconsin on Friday, Oct. 14.

Team Scores
1. Iowa State – 26; 2. Illinois – 120; 3. North Florida – 142; 4. Drake – 143; 5. Kansas – 183; 6. Iowa – 188; 7. Missouri – 197; 8. Lipscomb – 202; 9. Weber State – 212; 10. Southern Illinois - 295

Individual Results
1. Ezekiel Rop, Iowa State – 23:34.2; 3. Gable Sieperda, Iowa State – 23:43.0; 5. Titus Winders, Iowa State – 23:45.4; 6. Chad Johnson, Iowa State – 23:45.6; 11. Timothy Sindt, Iowa State – 23:53.5; 15. Seth Clevenger, Iowa State – 24:03.0; 17. Nehemia Too, Iowa State – 24:06.7; 18. Emanuel Galdino, Iowa State – 24:09.1; 26. Kelvin Bungei, Iowa State – 24:17.8; 49. Alex McKane, Iowa State – 24:37.4; 53. Silas Winders, Iowa State – 24:38.6; 86. Quinton Orr, Iowa State – 24:59.7; 151. Aidan Manning, Iowa State – 25:46.8

Players Mentioned

Kelvin Bungei

Seth Clevenger

Emanuel Galdino

Chad Johnson

Aidan Manning

Alex McKane

Quinton Orr

Ezekiel Rop

Gable Sieperda

Timothy Sindt

Nehemia Too

Silas Winders

Titus Winders

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics