Completed Event: Cross Country versus Cyclone Preview on August 29, 2025 , , Men: 1st, Women: 1st
Final
Cross Country
Cyclone Preview
Men: 1st, Women: 1st
Iowa State University Athletics
No. 27 Iowa State Finishes Seventh at Gans Creek Classic
09.26.2025 | Cross Country
AMES, Iowa – The No. 27 Iowa State women's cross country team had an impressive showing at the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, Missouri. The Cyclones finished seventh in the Gold Championship field with 10 teams ranked in the top 30 nationally.
"I'm very happy with the women's performance today," said coach Cale Wallace. "It was the first 6K race for five of our top eight, so for them to go out and finish seventh in this field without very much experience was impressive to me."
"Today was a great day for the whole program," said director of cross country Jeremy Sudbury. "It's very exciting to see the women's team have a great day and just goes to show how hard they've been working the last four weeks in preparation for this meet. And it's just beginning; much more to come from them."
Freshman Mercyline Kirwa made her Iowa State debut on Friday morning, pacing the Cyclones with a third-place individual finish while Betty Kipkore (14th) and Maelle Porcher (20th) were also top 20 finishers. All three Cyclones finished the 6K race in under 20 minutes.
Sophomores Ruby Hughes and Sydney Morrell rounded out ISU's top five, finishing 88th and 104th, respectively. Of the top five runners for Iowa State on Friday, two were freshmen (Kirwa, Kipkore) and two were sophomores (Hughes, Morrell).
Freshman Maya Ledesma also made her debut on the grass for Iowa State, finishing 113th and just under 21 minutes while Olivia Verde (123rd) and Riley Beach (132nd) rounded out the Cyclone field.
"I am excited to see what this team will be able to accomplish as the season progresses, especially once we are at full strength and have a little more experience under our belt," said Wallace.
Up Next
Iowa State travels to Madison for the Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational on October 17th. The women's 6K race will begin at 10:30 a.m. while the men's 8K will follow at 11:10 a.m. at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course.
Team Results (Gold Championship)
1. No. 12 Florida, 102; 2. No. 8 NAU, 126; 3. No. 26 Colorado, 166; 4. No. 18 Virginia, 210; 5. No. 22 Utah, 223; 6. No. 2 Oregon, 224; 7. No. 27 Iowa State, 226; 8. Missouri, 253; 9. Washington State, 259; 10. Wake Forest, 312; 11. Duke, 318; 12. Tennessee, 356; 13. No. 16 Michigan State, 398; 14. Tulane, 400; 15. Syracuse, 434; 16. Nebraska, 445; 17. Princeton, 447; 18. Oregon State, 455; 19. No. 6 Alabama, 476; 20. Ole Miss, 507; 21. Furman, 517; 22. No. 24 Lipscomb, 526; 23. Michigan, 530; 24. Vanderbilt, 531; 25. Air Force, 587; 26. Utah Valley, 646; 27. UCLA, 674; 28. Ohio State, 702; 29. Oklahoma, 717; 30. Weber State, 892; 31. Montana State, 923
Individual Results (Gold Championship)
1. Rosemary Longisa, Washington State, 19:07.0; 3. Mercyline Kirwa, Iowa State, 19:13.7; 14. Betty Kipkore, Iowa State, 19:38.1; 20. Maelle Porcher, Iowa State, 19:45.3; 88. Ruby Hughes, Iowa State, 20:45.6; 104. Sydney Morrell, Iowa State, 20:53.3; 113. Maya Ledesma, Iowa State, 20:57.6; 123. Olivia Verde, Iowa State, 21:02.2; 132. Riley Beach, Iowa State, 21:08.3
Players Mentioned
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