Columbia, Mo. – The Central Arkansas cross country teams ran in the Gans Creek Classic on Friday, hosted by Mizzou in Columbia, Missouri. The men finished 22^nd out of 26 teams, while the women finished 15^th of 26. 
 
For the men's 8k race, Jack Dingman led the way, finishing with a time of 24:40.9, in 81^st out of over 253 competitors. Trae Baker set a new personal-best by nearly 30 seconds, crossing the finish line in 24:55.8, finishing 115^th. Ky Bickford also set a PR by 90 seconds, finishing his run at 25:10.9. Mason Bickle finished at 25:21.2, followed by Logan Dingman at 25:33.3. Samuel Morales crossed the finish line at 26:04.2 and William Hill set a PR with a time of 26:37.5.
 
In the women's 6k race, the Bears had three racers finish in the top 100 competitors out of 236, including one in the top 20. Madeline Hill finished in 19^th place with a time of 21:06.5.  Arizona Blankenship ran her first 6k as a Bear, finishing in 92^nd place with a time of 22:11.1, closely followed by Abby Machesky, who took 97^thplace, crossing the finish line at 22:14.8. Alexis Frick finished in 23:23.9 and Sequoya Prentice ended with a time of 23:31.1. Liz Browning finished in 23:54.2 and Lydia Butler finished her 6k at 24:17.2. 
 
Bears head coach, Josey Weaver, thought that his teams competed hard in the races today. "We are leaving from our first 6k and 8k of the year with a lot of teaching points. I feel like we put a lot of effort and fight into each race," Weaver said. "We got the opportunity to line up and compete against the best of the best today. It was a great experience that we can build on moving forward."
 
Next, the Bears will travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to compete in the Crimson Classic on October 17^th.
 
For full results and standings, visit the results page.