Kathy Le
Iowa’s Brayden Burnett warms up during a practice outside the Hawkeye Indoor Track Facility in Iowa City on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023.
The Iowa cross country runners traveled to Columbia, Missouri, for the Gans Creek Classic on Friday morning. The Hawkeye women placed 12th, while the men came in 13th.
Three third-years set new personal records in the men’s 8,000-meter race. Brayden Burnett finished in 43rd place with a time of 23:59.7. Will Ryan and Carson Houg followed closely behind with times of 24:05.4 and 24:49.5, respectively.
Second-year Miles Wilson, third-year Miles Sheppard, and first-year Kyle Montgomery joined Burnett and Ryan in the scoring five.
On the women’s side, two underclassmen notched new 6,000-meter career bests.
First-year Elena Torres and second-year Clare Kelly ran times of 21:07.4 and 22:31.6, respectively. Torres was also named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week after her performance at the Big Ten Preview on Sept. 13.
“This is a well-deserved honor,” Iowa distance coach Randy Hasenbank told Hawkeye Sports. “[Torres] had a fantastic high school career. She prepared well over the summer and showed up fit and eager to compete.”
Joining Torres in the scoring five were fourth-year Amber Aesoph, first-year Hillary Trainor, and third-years Rowan Boulter and Jalysssa Blazek.
Four runners represented the Black and Gold in the open races on Friday as well.
For the men, first-year Jaxson Plumb posted a new personal record of 25:00.4. Fellow rookie Armaan Chopra did the same in 25:34.3.
In the women’s open 6,000-meter race, third-year Aleah Tenpas tallied a personal best of 22:33.1. Graduate student Abby Ryon was close behind in 23:22.6.
Up next
The Hawkeyes will take a month off of competition before gearing up for the Bradley Pink Classic. The meet will take place in Peoria, Illinois, on Oct. 27.