University of Missouri
Pre-National Invitational
No. 19 Men's Cross Country Claims Second, No. 21 Women Third at Pre-National Invitational
10/17/2025 12:45:00 PM | Cross Country
The Tigers capped off the regular season with a pair of top-three finishes.
The No. 19 Mizzou men's cross country team took second place while the 21st-ranked women took third at the Pre-National Invitational at Gans Creek Cross Country Course on Friday morning.
Mizzou's men earned a silver medal in the 8k after scoring 164, beating out No. 24 Ole Miss in third place, No. 3 Loyola-Chicago in fifth and No. 22 Arkansas. Georgia claimed the team win, beating the Tigers with 119 points.
Drew Rogers paced the men with a 23:24.7 in the 8k to notch 12th, his fifth time securing a top-15 placement in his collegiate career. Elijah Limo crossed the finish line in 23:24.8 to follow in 14th. His result marked the second-highest finish of any freshman in the race, trailing just the first-place runner from Florida.
The women tallied third in the 6k with 164 points, beating out nationally ranked No. 30 Tennessee in fourth, seventh-place No. 23 Boston College, and No. 3 Florida. No. 1 BYU and No. 19 Villanova topped the leaderboard, scoring 25 and 170 points for first and second, respectively.
Monica Wanjiku led the women's squad for the second consecutive race, securing ninth with a 19:47.9 to record the second-best women's 6k time this season. Rahel Broemmel notched a 20:31.4 to take 43rd, the fourth-best time of the 2025 campaign.
In the women's 6k, the Gans Creek course record was broken by over 24 seconds by BYU freshman Jane Hedengren in 18:42.3, topping the previous time of 19:06.9 at the seventh annual Gans Creek Classic on September 26.
TOP TIGERS
- Mirriam Chepkirui clocked a personal best of 20:32.3 to place 45th in her second race as a Tiger.
- Kobi Walker posted 20:34.6 to take 51st and stand in the top 15 percent of the race's finishers.
- The women's team established five new top-ten times for the season records.
- Tyler Freiner claimed 36th with 23:58.0 to tally the seventh-fastest 8k time for the men's 2025 campaign.
- Austin Popplewell followed in 46th with a personal best of 24:03.9.
- The men added four new entries to the top-ten 8k times for the 2025 season.
MEN'S 8k RESULTS - 2nd Place (164 points, 11-13-35-45-60)
Drew Rogers, 23:24.7 // Elijah Limo, 23:25.8 // Tyler Freiner, 23:58.0 // Austin Popplewell, 24:03.9 // Ryder James, 24:16.2 // Finnian Russell (UNA), 24:29.8 // Joshua Allison, 24:48.7 // Raymond Kipkoech, 24:54.5 // Carter Spradling, 25:19.9 // Joseph Bariola (UNA), 25:45.7 // River Hardman (UNA), 26:58.4 // Louie Endres, 27:45.5 // Yordanos Zelinski (UNA), 35:03.3
WOMEN'S 6k RESULTS - 3rd Place (216 points, 9-41-43-49-74)
Monica Wanjiku, 19:47.9 // Rahel Broemmel, 20:31.4 // Mirriam Chepkirui, 20:32.3 // Kobi Walker, 20:34.6 // Allison Newman, 20:53.8 // Charlotte Cullen, 20:55.1 // Natalie Barnard, 21:16.8 // Elissa Barnard, 21:55.5
UP NEXT
Mizzou will travel to Knoxville, Tennessee, for the Southeastern Conference Championship on Friday, October 31.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For all the latest on Mizzou track & field and cross country, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and X (MizzouTFXC).
Players Mentioned
