GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Furman cross country teams will compete at the Gans Creek Classic Friday at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Mo., which is the site of the 2025 NCAA Cross Country Championship.

The women's team will compete in the gold 6K race at 10 a.m. ET, while the Paladin men will run in the gold 8K race at 10:45 a.m. ET.  

Paladin women who will compete at the race include senior Emma Jones; sophomores Zoie Lamanna, Nysa Males, Rory Sullivan, and Jais Ward; and freshmen Annie Miller, Elly Velasquez, and Tessa Walter.  

For the men, graduate students Albert Velikonja and Bryn Woodall will be joined by senior Luke Taylor, junior Chris Knight, and sophomores Rives Boltwood, Colin Eckerman, and Ryan Smith.

Thirty-two teams will compete in the women's gold championship on Friday, including:
- No. 2 Oregon (5th NCAA XC 2024, 2024 Big Ten Champion)
- No. 5 Stanford (6th NCAA XC 2024, 2024 ACC Runner Up)
- No. 6 Alabama (10th NCAA XC 2024, 2024 SEC Champion)
- No. 8 Northern Arizona (4th NCAA XC 2024, 2024 Big Sky Champion) 
- No. 12 Florida (12th NCAA XC 2024, 2024 SEC Third Place)
- No. 16 Michigan State (21st NCAA XC 2024)
- No. 18 Virginia (14th NCAA XC 2024)
- No. 22 Utah (19th NCAA XC 2024, 2024 Big 12 Third Place)
- No. 24 Lipscomb (23rd NCAA XC 2024, 2024 ASUN Champion) 
- Syracuse (20th NCAA XC 2024)
- Tennessee (26th NCAA XC 2024, 2024 SEC Runner Up)
- Michigan State (21st NCAA XC 2024)

On the men's side, 32 teams will also run in the gold race, including:
- No. 1 Iowa State (2024 NCAA XC Runner-up, 2024 Big 12 Third Place) 
- No. 4 BYU (2024 NCAA XC Champion, 2024 Big 12 Champion)
- No. 6 Virginia (21st NCAA XC 2024)
- No. 7 Stanford (12th NCAA XC 2024, 2024 ACC Runner Up)
- No. 9 Wake Forest (7th NCAA XC 2024, 2024 ACC Champion) 
- No. 11 Alabama (18th NCAA XC 2024, 2024 SEC Runner Up) 
- No. 12 Syracuse (11th NCAA XC 2024)
- No. 13 Colorado (19th NCAA XC 2024)
- No. 14 Northern Arizona (5th NCAA XC 2024, 2024 Big Sky Champion) 
- No. 15 Butler (20th NCAA XC 2024)
- No. 17 Eastern Kentucky (29th NCAA XC 2024)
- No. 18 Washington State (2024 WCC Third Place)
- No. 20 Princeton (24th NCAA XC 2024)
- No. 24 Air Force
- No. 28 Furman (17th NCAA XC 2024, 2024 SoCon Champion)
- Ole Miss (25th NCAA XC 2024, 2024 SEC Third Place)

Live results can be found at https://pttiming.com/event.php?mid=2525&pt=schedule and paid subscribers can view live video of the races at on the SEC Network+.  Complete results from the meet will be posted to www.furmanpaladins.com at the conclusion of the day's races.

Minuteman Press is the Official Sponsor of Furman Athletics press releases.