Isca Chelangat wasted no time making her Razorback debut count.
At the eighth annual Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, Chelangat rolled to the individual title in meet-record fashion, covering 6,000 meters in 18 minutes, 58.4 seconds. That mark not only gave Arkansas a front-running winner, it also stood as the 12th fastest performance ever on the Gans Creek course.
Chelangat’s run was familiar in one important way: she has already shown she can fly on this course. A year ago, she posted the eighth fastest time in Gans Creek history when she placed seventh in 18:56.1 at the NCAA Championships while running for Oklahoma State. This time, she bettered the previous Classic record of 19:07.0, set in 2025 by Washington State’s Rosemary Longisa.
The race belonged to Chelangat from the gun. Her 1k splits came in at 3:01.6, 6:12.4, 9:21.8, 12:37.7, 15:49.6 and 18:58.4, a steady build that left little room for anyone else to close the gap. Elizabeth Khatevi of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi finished second in 19:03.6, and Kentucky’s Ann Lemirisho was third in 19:25.7.
Arkansas, ranked No. 22, ended up tied for fourth in the team standings with North Dakota at 169 points, but the Razorbacks lost the tie-breaker 3-2 and were placed fifth. North Dakota’s scoring came in at 15-22-34-36-62, while Arkansas counted 1-27-28-43-70.
Host Missouri, ranked No. 26 nationally, took the team title with 56 points. Kentucky was second with 136, Florida State third with 152, then North Dakota and Arkansas, followed by Nebraska with 201, Wyoming with 246, Ole Miss with 261, Tennessee with 282 and Utah State with 291 among the top 10 schools in a field of 29 teams.
Arkansas’ next three scorers were all freshmen getting their first taste of 6,000-meter racing. Braelyn Combe finished 27th in 20:18.5, just ahead of Gabbie Bishop in 28th at 20:18.6. Jayden Hill, an 800m runner making her first cross country start, was the fourth Razorback across the line in 43rd at 20:37.3.
Marissa Ferebee, another freshman in the lineup, completed the team scoring with a 70th-place finish in 20:59.0. Josphine Mwaura and Olivia Pielemeier rounded out the Arkansas group, placing 21:10.6 and 21:14.0, respectively.
Arkansas is back in action Saturday, October 3, at the Chile Pepper Festival on the Agri Park course in Fayetteville. Paityn Noe and newcomer Emmaculate Chepngetich are expected to race for the Razorbacks.
In Other News...
Arkansas Gets A Familiar Chance To Reassert Control After Georgia
Arkansas closes its 2026 non-conference schedule with a familiar date against Tulsa on Sept. 26 at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, a matchup that has long tilted the Razorbacks way. The series history alone tells the story: Arkansas leads it 55-15-3 and has not lost to the Golden Hurricane since 1977, making this the sort of game that has usually given the Razorbacks a chance to steady themselves before the grind of league play fully takes over.
After Georgia, that matters. Games like this can serve as a reset or a reminder, depending on how Arkansas handles them, and the backdrop only heightens the expectation that the Razorbacks should look in control. The recent run against Tulsa has been so one-sided that anything less than another solid showing would stand out, even with the bigger-picture numbers and coaching histories still framing the season around it. [Read more 🡒]
Arkansas Cross Country Just Sent A Message Before Bigger Tests Ahead
Arkansas used the Gans Creek Classic to make an early-season statement, leaving Columbia with both the individual and team titles at Missouris eighth annual meet. Ernest Cheruiyot led the way for the No. 16 Razorbacks by winning the 8,000-meter race in 22:32.8, while Nick Busienei backed him up with a second-place finish as Arkansas put together a 69-point effort to top Tennessee and a field that included other strong programs.
For a group that has bigger tests ahead, the kind of depth Arkansas showed matters as much as the trophy itself. Winning at this stage does not settle anything, but it does give the Razorbacks a benchmark after holding off quality competition, and it leaves them with a little extra buzz as the schedule tightens and the stakes rise. [Read more 🡒]
Arkansas Fans Are Remembering A Key Name From The Broyles Era
Jim Collier, a two-time All-Southwest Conference receiver at Arkansas and one of the more familiar names from the Broyles era, died Sept. 13 at his home in Farmerville, Louisiana, at 87. For Razorback fans looking back at the programs history, Colliers place is easy to appreciate: he played on multiple championship teams in Fayetteville before moving on to the NFL draft, where the New York Giants selected him.
Colliers football life did not stop there. He went on to spend 15 years as an assistant at LSU, helping the Tigers to an SEC championship in 1970, which only deepened the footprint he left across the conference. For Arkansas supporters, his death is a reminder of how many of those old Broyles-era figures carried their influence far beyond campus. [Read more 🡒]