Virginia Cavaliers Official Athletic Site
Open Search
Cross Country
. Cross Country

Cavaliers Shine in Pre-National Race at Gans Creek Classic

Results
Virginia Twitter
Virginia Instagram
Virginia Facebook
Get the UVA Sports App

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 6 and No. 18 ranked Virginia men’s and women’s cross country programs represented well at the Gans Creek Classic on Friday (Sept. 26) as the men finished runner-up led by Gary Martin’s top 10 finish in the men’s 8k while the women finished fourth in the 6k race highlighted by six personal best times at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course.

In the men’s 8k, Gary Martin opened his season with a ninth-place finish on the course that will ultimately host the NCAA Cross Country Championships at the end of the season. Martin is the reigning ACC Cross Country Champion and 2024 Cross Country All-American. Martin crossed the line in 22:51.1 to lead a quartet of Cavaliers to finish in the top 30. Not far behind Martin was Justin Wachtel with a new personal best of 22:54.5 in 12th place. Rounding out the Cavalier front pack was Will Anthony (23:05.2) and Nate Mountain (23:06.1) in 25th and 29th place respectively. Brett Gardner (23:07.8), Will Daley (32:31.0) and Nicholas Bendtsen (23:42.0) also ran strong races for the Cavaliers.

The Virginia men finished runner-up with a total of 107 points, just behind the No. 1 ranked Iowa State with 47 points. The Cavaliers were the top ACC team to finish as No. 12 Syracuse (229) took sixth, No. 9 Wake Forest finished ninth (312), No. 7 Stanford (456) was 15th and Duke finished 27th overall. Virginia also topped No. 4 BYU as the Cougars finished in fifth place with 199 points. 

On the women’s side, Tatum David led the way for the Cavaliers with a 15th place finish clocking a new personal best of 19:38.9 for 6k. Also in the top 25 finishers was Gillian Bushee with a new 6k personal best of 19:55.1. A quartet of Cavaliers including Mary Ellen Eudaly, Ella Woehlcke, Bushee and David finished within the top 50 of 237 competitors. Eudaly crossed the line in 20:17.3 for 46th place while Woehlcke recorded a new personal best of 20:19.5 to finish in 50th place. The trio of underclassman in Tatum Olesen (20:36.0, PB), Stella Kermes (20:40.4, PB) and Katie Payne (20:49.3, PB) put together strong races in Missouri.

The Virginia women finished fourth in the team standings with a total of 210 points, just behind No. 12 Florida (102), No. 8 Northern Arizona (126) and Colorado (166). The Cavaliers were the top ACC team to finish as Wake Forest (313) finished 10th; Duke (320) took 11th and Syracuse (437) finished 15th overall. The team also finished ahead of No. 2 Oregon in sixth place with 225 points and No. 16 Michigan State in 13th place with 402 points.

From Director of Cross Country & Track & Field Vin Lananna:
“The men and women capitalized on the opportunity to see a great course at Missouri and to compete with an elite field of national and international athletes. We will go back to work as we prepare for our next outing at home in three weeks.”

Gans Creek Classic
Gans Creek Cross Country Course
Columbia, Mo.

Women’s Gold Invitational Team Results (6k)
  1. Florida — 102
  2. Northern Arizona — 126
  3. Colorado — 166
  4. Virginia — 210
  5. Utah — 223
  6. Oregon — 224
  7. Iowa State — 226
  8. Missouri — 253
  9. Washington State — 259
  10. Wake Forest — 312
  11. Duke — 318
  12. Tennessee — 356
  13. Michigan State — 398
  14. Tulane — 400
  15. Syracuse — 434
  16. Nebraska — 445
  17. Princeton — 447
  18. Oregon State — 455
  19. Alabama — 476
  20. Ole Miss — 507
  21. Furman — 517
  22. Lipscomb — 526
  23. Michigan — 530
  24. Vanderbilt — 531
  25. Air Force — 587
  26. Utah Valley — 646
  27. UCLA — 674
  28. Ohio State — 702
  29. Oklahoma — 717
  30. Weber State — 892
  31. Montana State — 923
Men’s Gold Invitational Team Results (8k)
  1. Iowa State — 47
  2. Virginia — 107
  3. Colorado — 126
  4. Alabama — 193
  5. BYU — 199
  6. Syracuse — 229
  7. Butler — 237
  8. Northern Arizona — 239
  9. Wake Forest — 312
  10. Michigan State — 336
  11. Tulane — 368
  12. Missouri — 404
  13. Princeton — 415
  14. Washington — 456
  15. Stanford — 456
  16. Air Force — 470
  17. Eastern Kentucky — 487
  18. Michigan — 493
  19. Lipscomb — 514
  20. Furman — 562
  21. Ole Miss — 572
  22. Gonzaga — 602
  23. Florida — 614
  24. Utah Valley — 649
  25. Iona — 658
  26. Portland — 668
  27. Duke — 691
  28. Navy — 698
  29. Texas Tech — 719
  30. Weber State — 728
  31. Montana State — 756
  32. Tennessee — 540
 
Up Next
The Virginia men’s and women’s cross country teams return home to host the 2025 Panorama Farms Invitational on Friday, Oct. 17 at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville, Va.

Related Stories