No. 16 Razorbacks open 2026 campaign at Gans Creek Classic

COLUMBIA – Arkansas opens the 2026 cross country season on Friday, September 25 at the eighth annual Gans Creek Classic hosted by Missouri.

The Razorbacks, currently ranked equal No. 16 nationally, will compete over an 8,000m distance with the Gold Invitational race starting at 8:45 a.m. The men’s Black Open 8k race starts at 10:30 a.m. The meet will be live streamed on SEC Network +.

Teams are limited to 10 runners in the Invitational race with additional entries competing in the open race.

“We’re going into this meet fully with an expectation to win the race,” stated Razorback men’s first-year cross country coach Cale Wallace. “The way our schedule is set up most of these guys are only going to have two racing opportunities before the conference meet.

“It’s a pretty serious dress rehearsal with SECs being five weeks from now on this same course. It’s important to get on the course and understand how it feels when you’re doing it on a pre-meet compared to being in the thick of a race and knowing certain elements of the course.”

Host Missouri is ranked No. 28 nationally while Kansas enters the meet ranked No. 30. Other schools in the Gans Creek Classic include Cincinnati, Colorado State, Drake, Florida State, Illinois, Kentucky, Murray State, North Dakota, Northern Iowa, Ole Miss, Pacific, Portland, Rice, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Wyoming.

“Being at Arkansas since January it’s been cool and we’ve had a lot of success during the track and field season,” said Wallace. “It’s still a constant reminder we are still doing new things as this week is the first cross country race with me being in charge. I’m excited and I think we have a big year ahead of us.”

The Razorback cross country roster includes six Kenyans this season. Making their mark on the program during the 2026 track and field season, Ernest Cheruiyot broke the UA 10,000m record and produced the second fastest 5,000m. Cheruiyot scored in both events at NCAA Outdoor with bronze in the 10k and fifth in the 5k. Nick Busienei delivered the fourth fastest 5,000m time while Brian Masai broke the UA 1,500m record.

Indoors, Owan Logorodi ran the first leg while Masai anchored the Razorback distance medley to a school record performance as Arkansas claimed NCAA silver. Tim Chesondin, who has the third fasted 10,000m time in school history, finished 19th to earn All-America status in the 2026 NCAA Cross Country Championships. James Sankei raced in the NCAA meet a year ago after placing fourth in the NCAA South Central Region and 30th in the SEC Championships during his freshman season.

While Wallace begins his first season as Arkansas cross country coach, a few Razorbacks will make their collegiate cross country debut.

“Looking at the guys who project to be in our top 10, four of them will be making their NCAA cross country debut,” noted Wallace. “It’s a learning opportunity for some of those guys. For two of them it will be the furthest race they’ve ever run in their life and that’s always a learning experience.

“Jackson Free is a true freshman and Trey Caldwell is a sophomore who transferred over from Colorado and didn’t get to race in cross country as a freshman. For them this will the first time running anything over 5k.”