RICHMOND, Ky. – The men of Eastern Kentucky University's cross country team will be traveling to Columbia, Missouri, for the Gans Creek Classic on Friday.
 
The team is slated to compete in the Men's Gold Championship race scheduled to begin at 10:45 a.m. ET, with the race being streamed on SEC Network+.
 
The Gans Creek Classic features one of the strongest fields in the nation, with elite programs from across the country converging in Columbia.
 
The men's races bring together six top-20 teams, highlighted by defending NCAA champion BYU and runner-up Iowa State. Conference champions from the SEC, ACC, and Big Ten, along with the reigning NCAA individual men's champion, will compete at the event.
 
Competing for the Colonels will be Mario Priego Montero, Taha Er Raouy, Cesc Boix, Tomas Vega, Brian Kimutai, Cosmas Kiprop, and Justine Kipkoech.
 
The race will be the 2025 debut for five of the seven competing Colonels, with only Boix and Vega competing at the EKU Tri-Meet to open the season back on August 29.
 
It will be the EKU debut Kiprop and Kimutai, with Kimutai being a freshman and Kiprop transferring in this season from Central Missouri.
 
Kipkoech enters 2025 as the ASUN's Preseason Runner of the Year, as the Kenyan was a standout in 2024, highlighted by taking third at Wisconsin Pre-Nationals in a time of 22:41.8 on the 8K men's championship course in just his second race ever as a Colonel.
 
Er Raouy will make his 2025 debut after finishing in second at the ASUN Championships a season ago.
 
Montero will race the clock for the first time in 2025 on Friday. Last season, he competed in five races, running a personal best of 23:50.6 at Wisconsin Pre-Nationals.