WSU's Longisa and Kipchoge sweep individual podium spots at Gans Creek Classic...
COLUMBIA, Missouri--Washington State's Rosemary Longisa and Solomon Kipchoge (WSU Athletics photo) swept the individual podium positions at Friday morning's Gans Creek Classic hosted by the University of Missouri, the first major race of the season with national implications.
Competing on the same course that will host the NCAA Division I cross country championships in November, the race was designed to give teams a preview of how the course will run with a large field.
In the opening women's 6k race, both Longisa and Zenah Cheptoo, the Cougars' top returning runner from last season, positioned themselves in the top ten as part of a lead group of some twenty athletes.
At the 2k mark, both WSU runners maintained their hold on the top ten, with Longisa going to the front at the halfway point, crossed in 9:30, as the lead group was whittled down to about 14.
4k into the race, it appeared that Longisa might not be able to hang on to her spot in the top five, as a group of three opened up a small gap, but Longisa took the lead back at the 5k mark, which was crossed in 16:00.
In the final kilometer, the freshman battled with another freshman, Tennessee's Mary Ogwoka, with Longisa winning in a course record 19:07, one second ahead of Ogwoka.
Meanwhile, Cheptoo finished sixth, passed by Oregon's Juliet Cherubet late in the race, with both finishing in 19:21.
WSU's other three scorers were Caroline Jepkorir in 41st in 20:11; Nicole Bissell in 100th in 20:51; and Kylah Madariaga in 116th in 20:59, giving the Cougars a 1-5 split of 1:52.
The Cougars finished ninth in the 31-team field, with a team score of 261 points. Number 12 Florida took the team title with 102 points, followed by number 8 Northern Arizona with 126, and number 26 Colorado third with 166.
In the men's 8k race, Washington State's Evans Kurui went to the front from the start, holding a two-second lead at the 2k mark, a five-second lead at 4k, then dropped to fifth at the 5k mark.
Unfortunately, the All-American paid the price for his front-running, and didn't finish.
Meanwhile, the Cougars' Solomon Kipchoge, who was just off the lead group, worked his way to second by the 5k checkpoint, before pulling away from Iowa State's Joash Ruto to win in a course record 22:25 to Ruto's 22:32.
Josphat Meli was the second runner in for Washington State in 23:23, followed by Vincent Koech in 90th at 23:44.
Kutoven Stevens was 139th in 24:07, with Eric Swedin the Cougars' fifth runner in 24:38, giving them a 1-5 split of 2:13.
Gonzaga was led by Bryce Cerkowniak in 74th place in 23:35, followed by Logan Law in 84th in 23:41.
Paul Talens was third for Gonzaga in 146th place in 24:10, followed by Will Thorsett in 153rd in 24:12, and Ryan Mitchell in 167th in 24:18. The Zags finished with a 1-5 split of 43 seconds.
Washington State, which was ranked number 18 in the USTFCCCA coaches' poll going into the meet, finished 14th with 445 points, despite Kurui's DNF.
Gonzaga finished 21st in the 31 team field with 587 points.
Number one Iowa State won the team title with 41 points, followed by number 6 Virginia with 98 points, and number 13 Colorado was third with 116 points.
NOTE: The sports information offices of the University of Missouri, Washington State, Gonzaga, along with the USTFCCCA contributed to this report.
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