Utah Valley cross country returns to action this Friday, traveling to the site of this season's NCAA Championships for the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, Mo., hosted by the Missouri Tigers at Gans Creek Cross Country Course.

The women's team will run first at 8 a.m. MDT, followed by the men's race at 8:45. The races will be streamed live on SEC Network+, which can be accessed with an ESPN+ subscription. Live results will be posted at PrimeTime Timing.

Both groups are up against stacked fields. The men's race features 17 of the top 30 teams in the most recent USTFCCCA rankings, as well as six other teams who are receiving votes. The women's field includes 11 of the top 30, in addition to five other squads that are receiving votes.

LAST TIME OUT

Both Wolverine squads are coming off strong showings in their second race of the season at the Beehive Invitational on Sept. 12. The women's team took home both the team and individual titles for the second meet in a row, with Morgan Nokes leading the way yet again with a dominating first-place finish. Nokes' 17:14.69 5k time was 38 seconds better than the next-best collegiate finisher.

Behind Nokes, Ari Trimble (3rd, 17:53.35), Paisley Taylor (9th, 18:27.53), and Natalia Boltz (10th, 18:30.63) led the Wolverines with a meet-best four of the top 10 attached finishers.

The men's team narrowly lost out on a team title, tying with Utah State on points, but losing out to the Aggies on tiebreaker. For the second meet in a row, Wyatt Mortenson was UVU's top finisher on the men's side, finishing second among attached runners with a 7k time of 21:30.62. 

Utah Valley had five of the top 10 attached finishers on the men's side, with Porter Whitworth (5th, 21:56.34), Cameron Jacobs (6th, 22:05.41), Samuel Nelson (7th, 22:06.42), and Caleb Ream (8th, 22:06.47) among the best.

Following Friday's meet, Utah Valley will head to Cedar City, Utah, on Oct. 4 for the Color Country Invitational hosted by Southern Utah. The races will be held at Cedar Ridge Golf Course, with the men running first at 10:30 a.m. MDT, followed by the women at 11. Results will be posted on DirectAthletics.com.