COLUMBIA, Mo. – An NCAA Championship qualifier a year ago, Baylor sophomore Ruth Kimeli will make her 2025 season debut on Friday, running at the Gans Creek Classic on the same course that will host this year's NCAA Championship.
 
The men's cross country team will run in the Black Invitational 8K race at 8:15 a.m., followed by Kimeli running as an individual in the Gold Invitational 6K race at 9 a.m. and then the rest of the women's team competing in the Black Invitational at 10:30.
 
Kimeli will run in an elite field that includes nine nationally ranked teams and 12 squads that made it to last year's NCAA Championships and 2024 individual medalist Doris Lemngole of Alabama.
 
"I've been going to Missouri meet ever since I got here, knowing that Nationals was going to be there this year," Baylor coach David Barnett said. "Getting to race the best teams on one of the top courses is really good. And then, if you have people or a team make it, they've already been there before, so they're more familiar with it."
 
Other than Kimeli, the teams return virtually intact from the season-opening UTA Invitational, where the women were fourth and the men seventh in the meet at Arlington, Texas.
 
Sophomore Ella Perry and Texas transfer Mackenize Browne, coming off top-10 individual finishes, will be joined by sophomore Sally Corder and freshmen Rachel Haws and Evanna Jacobsen.
 
On the men's side, senior Ethan Wrase will make his season debut and join a group that includes juniors Nolan Keenan and Straton Miller, sophomores Jack Sterrett and Caden Blitz and freshman Caleb McCarver.
 
After Kimeli finished fourth in last year's Gans Creek meet, Barnett said he expects "her to mix it up with the top women."
 
"It's her first race, but I think just off her general fitness and what she's been able to do over the summer and going back to last spring, I think she could be in the top 10 or 15 women in the race. That will be a good starting point for the season," he said.
 
Live stats will be provided by PrimeTime Timing, and the race will be streamed on SEC Network+.
 
For the latest news on the Baylor cross country team all year long, follow its official Facebook, X and Instagram accounts: @BaylorTrack.