COLUMBIA, Mo. — Columbia College cross country had a night to remember at Gans Creek on Friday, highlighted by a men's team title and an individual crown for senior Hailey Gerard on the women's side.

Gerard won the women's 5000m outright in 18:27.5 — more than 35 seconds ahead of the field, the largest margin of any individual champion at the meet — and helped power the Columbia women to a third-place team finish (98 points) behind Truman (26) and Park University (94). Juniors Lauren Berhorst and Ellie Hartley crossed less than a second apart in 14th and 15th, and senior Xavia Cullers and sophomore Nataly Gutierrez rounded out the scoring five.

On the men's side, the Cougars ran away with the team title, scoring just 23 points to beat Truman (64), Park University (86) and Lindenwood (92). Senior Kalieb Haileselassie took runner-up honors overall in 26:27.0, 3.5 seconds behind champion Isaac Ndiwa of Lindenwood. Sophomore Sean Wigger (3rd), junior Laik Graham (5th), senior Will Cherrington (6th) and junior Marcos Lara (7th) followed close behind — four Cougars within 33 seconds of each other — with junior Blaine Brodersen rounding out the scoring five in 9th. Columbia placed six runners inside the top 21 overall.

Women's 5K Finishes

Pl	Athlete	Time
1	Hailey Gerard	18:27.5
14	Lauren Berhorst	20:05.5
15	Ellie Hartley	20:06.4
39	Xavia Cullers	21:29.7
47	Nataly Gutierrez	22:11.5
48	Brenley Webb	22:23.3
54	Addison Shoffner	22:57.5
55	Kenzie Miller	23:11.7
56	Paige Thielen	23:26.6
60	Christian Steuck	23:47.5
72	Becca Erisman	25:21.8

Men's 8K Finishes

Pl	Athlete	Time
2	Kalieb Haileselassie	26:27.0
3	Sean Wigger	26:39.5
5	Laik Graham	26:52.9
6	Will Cherrington	26:59.4
7	Marcos Lara	27:08.2
9	Blaine Brodersen	27:16.3
12	Landen Chapman	27:36.7
14	Ryan Brown	27:40.4
17	Daniel Menefee	27:45.6
21	Max Stephan	28:11.5
35	Dryst Bostick	28:56.9
37	Liam Lyon	29:01.4
46	TJ Evans	29:46.8
66	Noah Bredehoeft	31:26.3