Chelangat Introduces Herself to Arkansas With a Gans Creek Record

Isca Chelangat made her Arkansas debut with a meet record, winning the Gans Creek Classic Gold 6K in 18:58.4. The Oklahoma State transfer led throughout and finished five seconds ahead of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Elizabeth Khatevi, with Kentucky’s Ann Lemirisho third. Chelangat was already familiar with Gans Creek after finishing seventh there at last year’s NCAA Championships, and her return broke Rosemary Longisa’s Classic record of 19:07.0. Her winning time was also the 12th-fastest women’s 6K ever run on the course.

Missouri dominated the team race behind a beautifully packed scoring five. Monica Wanjiku finished fifth, Rahel Broemmel sixth, Suzy Lecoutre ninth, Kobi Walker 13th and Mirriam Chepkirui 23rd, giving the Tigers just 56 points and their first Gans Creek Classic title since 2019. Kentucky put three runners in the top eight but finished a distant second with 136 points because its fourth and fifth scorers came home 40th and 81st. The 80-point margin was the largest in meet history, with Florida State third at 152 and North Dakota edging Arkansas on a tiebreaker after both scored 169.