The Meet

South Dakota men's and women's cross country races at Missouri's Gans Creek Classic on Friday morning held at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Missouri. The men's 8,000-meter race is scheduled for 9 a.m. with the women's 6,000-meter race to follow at 9:45 a.m.
 

The Coyotes

South Dakota is coming off one of the toughest fields the program's ever faced in the regular season. This week will feature another large field with Power 5 and a variety of regional programs. Fifth-year senior Merga Gemeda shined last time out with a personal best time of 24:19.4, a league-leading mark that earned him Summit League Peak Performer of the Week honors. Sixth-year senior and physical therapy student Abby Ripperda will not make the trip to Columbia this weekend, but she owns the top Summit time on the women's side with a clocking of 21:12.5. Third-year sophomore Abrielle Jirele owns the third-fastest time in the league this season with her clocking of 21:39.2 in Indiana. This week marks the penultimate regular season meet leading up to the Summit League Championships at the end of October.
 

The Competition

The field on Friday consists of a chunk of regional foes along with schools from the Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC. Nationally ranked teams include the No. 9 Iowa State men and the No. 28 Illinois women. The complete entry list includes Baylor, Bradley, Cincinnati, Creighton, Drake, Eastern Washington, Illinois, Illinois State, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas City, Lipscomb, Minnesota, Missouri, Murray State, North Dakota, North Florida, Northern Iowa, Northwestern, Omaha, SIUE, South Dakota, Southern Illinois, UIC, Weber State and Western Illinois.
 

One Last Thing

Mizzou plays host to the NCAA Midwest Regional meet later this fall for the first time. This meet will serve as a course preview to competing teams.