On Sept. 26, 2025, UCA’s cross country teams participated in the Gans Creek Classic in Gans Green, Miss.

This was the first eight-kilometer and six-kilometer meet that UCA has participated in this year.

The women’s team competed in the 6k runs while the men’s team competed in the 8k runs.

Each team had seven members compete in the black division, while the women’s team had two competing in the open division, and the men’s team had three.

Overall, the men’s team placed 22nd in the black division, scoring a total of 495 points in the process.

These scores were collected from Sophomore Logan Digman, scoring 133 points; Senior Mason Brickle, scoring 121; Sophomore Kyrin Brickford, scoring 108; Sophomore Trae Baker, scoring 80; and Senior Jack Dingman, scoring 53.

This left Dingman in 81st place, Baker in 115th, Brickford in 153rd, Brickle in 172nd and Dingman in 187th.

Also running were Senior Samuel Morales, scoring 153, placed in 213th, and Sophomore William Hill, scoring 167, placed 235th.

While the men’s team’s scores were not recorded in the open division, of the three competitors, Freshman Dane Janowski placed 136th, Senior Beau Melancon placed 177th and Senior Hayden Boyett placed 210th. 

The women’s team placed fifteenth in the black division, scoring a total of 395 points.

This was cumulated by Junior Sequoya Prentice, who scored 127 points; Alexis Frick, 121 points; Abby Machesky, 97 points; Arizona Blankenship, 64 points; and Madeline Hill, 16 points.

This put Hill in 19th place, Blankenship in 92nd, Machesky in 97th, Frick in 170th, and Prentice in 177th. Following up was Freshman Elizabeth Browning, scoring 137 points, putting her in 190th place,  and Freshman Lydia Butler, who scored 153, putting her in 206th place.

The women’s team’s scores were not recorded for the open division; however, Sophomore Brooklyn Nicholson was put in 93rd place and Junior Kayli Myers was put in 115th.

According to a Duke Chronicle article, the team scoring system in an XC meet is based on the first five runners of a college to pass the finish line.

This means that any team that has fewer than five runners competing will not have its scores recorded for the race.

While a gold division was present, UCA did not compete in the division.

Head coach of XC and Track and Field, Josey Weaver, described the emotions coming out of the game. 

“We are leaving from our first 6K/8K of the year with a lot of teaching points. I feel like we put a lot of effort & fight into each race,” Weaver said, “However, we have to continue to pour into our training to get to where we want to be by our ASUN & the NCAA South Central Championships.”

While not the most sought-after outcome, team passion is still high.

“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,” Weaver said. He also said that the team will “use this to get ready for another elite cross country meet at Alabama in three weeks.”

The meet in question is the University of Alabama’s annual “Crimson Classic,” which will be held in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, with races beginning on Oct. 17.