Isca Chelangat breaks meet record to win Gans Creek Classic

Shawn Price September 25, 2026

COLUMBIA – In her Razorback debut, Isca Chelangat won the individual title in a meet record of 18 minutes, 58.4 seconds at the eighth annual Gans Creek Classic with the 12th fastest performance ever on the 6,000m course.

Chelangat produced the eighth fastest time on the Gans Creek course a year ago in placing seventh in 18:56.1 at the NCAA Championships with Oklahoma State. With her most recent performance, Chelangat bettered the previous Classic meet record of 19:07.0 set in 2025 by Washington State’s Rosemary Longisa.

Leading from the start, Chelangat powered to victory with 1k splits of 3:01.6, 6:12.4, 9:21.8, 12:37.7, 15:49.6, and 18:58.4. Runner-up in the race in 19:03.6 was Elizabeth Khatevi of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi while third place went to Kentucky’s Ann Lemirisho in 19:25.7.

No. 22 Arkansas tied for fourth place at 169 points with North Dakota, but lost the tie-breaking sequence 3-2 and finished fifth in team scoring. The breakdown for North Dakota went 15-22-34-36-62 compared to the Razorbacks tally of 1-27-28-43-70.

Host Missouri, ranked No. 26 nationally, won the team title with 56 points, followed by Kentucky (136), Florida State (152), North Dakota & Arkansas (169), Nebraska (201), Wyoming (246), Ole Miss (261), Tennessee (282) and Utah State (291) among the top 10 schools with a field of 29 teams.

Two freshman, racing over 6k for the first time, were the second and third finishers for the Razorbacks as Braelyn Combe placed 27th in 20:18.5 while Gabbie Bishop finished 28th in 20:18.6. Arkansas’ fourth runner, 800m runner Jayden Hill, contested her first ever cross country race and placed 43rd to clock 20:37.3 in her debut.

Marissa Ferebee, a third freshman among the Razorback line-up, rounded out the team score in placing 70th with a time of 20:59.0. The sixth and seventh runners for UA included Josphine Mwaura (21:10.6) and Olivia Pielemeier (21:14.0).

Arkansas will compete in the Chile Pepper Festival on Saturday, October 3, on the Agri Park course in Fayetteville. Razorbacks expected to race include Paityn Noe and newcomer Emmaculate Chepngetich.