Lara Flores leads Bruins at Gans Creek Classic

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- For the second consecutive meet, Jose Lara Flores emerged as the No. 1 runner for the Bruins at Friday's Gans Creek Classic.

The meet, hosted by the University of Missouri, saw a gathering of cross country superpowers from NCAA DI to the NJCAA. Lara and the Bruins competed in the third of three races on the schedule with an 11:15 start under bright sunshine and warming temperatures. Lara led the Bruins to a twelfth-place team finish in the twenty-team field. His time of 26:05.2 matched his season best at last week's Greeno/Dirksen Invite. He placed 42nd in the field of 251 runners. The next two Bruins ran season-best eight-kilometer times as Xavier Mallow was 74th in 26:31.6 and Jack Brown crossed the finish in 26:48.6 for 89th. Luis Casallas finished 139th for the Bruins, clocking 27:35.9, while Griffin Kipchumba rounded out the Bruin scorers in 149th and 27:44.5. The top five scorers averaged 26:57.2, a slight improvement from last week's race.

The Bruins were also represented by Robbie Siford, who ran 29:03.5 for 190th, followed closely by Trey Larson at 197th with 29:31.8. Cody Fikar was 205th in 29:41.5, and Alejandro Corona Martinez completed the Bruin roster in 238th, finishing in 33:04.4.

Head Coach Craig Christians: "It's a great experience for us to come to Columbia and not only compete on a fantastic facility but see some national powers in action. By the time we ran today, it was getting hot, and I think we all felt that in the latter stage of the race. Our top three guys matched or improved on season bests, and we really need the rest of the group to follow their lead if we are going to accomplish our team goals. We're going to take a break from racing and go to work for a couple of weeks, and I'm sure we'll move forward."

The Bruins now begin a two-week training block and will return to racing action on Oct. 11 at the Holiday Inn Express Classic held on the campus of Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa.