Both teams compete in a real race on Friday morning in Columbia, Missouri at the Gans Creek Classic.

The men had a solid effort at the Rice meet a couple of weeks ago, led by Brandon Martz and Gus Gannon. They'll be in the Gold Division at 8:45. They'll be running 8K (~5 miles).

The women will be in the 6K (~3¾ miles) Gold race at 8:00. They're still without Oliwia Kopeć and Daphne Mayer.

RESULTS

The women finished dead last (29th of 29), with Alex Gobran in 61st as the top Owl.

The guys were 25th of 30, with Gus Gannon (111th) and Brandon Martz (128th) leading the way.

Injuries or not, there's no excuse for the women to have such a terrible performance.

The women head to the SU Showdown, hosted by Southwestern University.

I'm not sure why this is on the schedule, since the competition will be Division II, Division III and junior colleges. Even with that, I suspect that Division II Dallas Baptist will be favored, as Rice will be without Oliwia Kopeć, Daphne Mayer and Niamh Collins.

RESULTS

(10-02-2026 02:57 PM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  The women head to the SU Showdown, hosted by Southwestern University.

I'm not sure why this is on the schedule , since the competition will be Division II, Division III and junior colleges. Even with that, I suspect that Division II Dallas Baptist will be favored, as Rice will be without Oliwia Kopeć, Daphne Mayer and Niamh Collins.

RESULTS

Um, so we can finish better than 29th out of 29?

(10-02-2026 03:38 PM)owl at the moon Wrote:  

(10-02-2026 02:57 PM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  The women head to the SU Showdown, hosted by Southwestern University.

I'm not sure why this is on the schedule , since the competition will be Division II, Division III and junior colleges. Even with that, I suspect that Division II Dallas Baptist will be favored, as Rice will be without Oliwia Kopeć, Daphne Mayer and Niamh Collins.

RESULTS

Um, so we can finish better than 29th out of 29?

Only 13 teams.

New head women coach is not working out.

Rice women finished 2nd to Division II Midwestern State (Wichita Falls). Alex Gobran, however, was the individual champion, with Cullen Merrell in 7th and Katherine McNulty in 9th.

For the first time in my memory, the Rice women are unranked in the South Central division (15 teams are ranked). Midwestern State is hardly a power, as they are unranked in Division II South Central.

It can’t be easy to be a cross country runner in Houston in August, September and sometimes October. I’m not sure how you can stay healthy. But placing blame on someone hired over the summer is ludicrous (July 31 to be exact is when we officially announced the new XC coach).

(10-03-2026 09:03 AM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  Rice women finished 2nd to Division II Midwestern State (Wichita Falls). Alex Gobran, however, was the individual champion, with Cullen Merrell in 7th and Katherine McNulty in 9th.

For the first time in my memory, the Rice women are unranked in the South Central division (15 teams are ranked). Midwestern State is hardly a power, as they are unranked in Division II South Central.

Great to see one of our Owls take the individual title this morning by 23 seconds in 22:11!

I hope we can one day avenge this loss to Midwestern State, though. While not widely known in Cross Country, they are a cycling power.

I wonder if any of their cross country athletes also compete on the cycling team.

I pulled up the regional and national rankings.

Rice Men are 11th in the South Central, down one spot from last week.

Nationally, Arkansas is the only South Central region team in the top 25 (both men and women are represented)

Also receiving votes nationally on the Men’s side:
Tulane (American and #3 South Central Region)
Tulsa (American and Mountain West Region)

The men finished 21st (out of 38) in a good field at the Arturo Barrios Invitational at Texas A&M. Gus Gannon was the highest finisher at 62.

The women were 31st (out of 48). Alex Gobran continues her excellent season, finishing 26th overall. Rice finished behind both Houston and Houston Christian. I doubt that has ever happened before today.