Hannah Gapes breaks course record as BYU upsets NC State at Pre-Nationals
Gapes ran 18:57.6 for a Pre-Nationals course record as BYU upset NC State, and Tulane's Silas Kiptanui won the men's race in Terre Haute.
Picture: GravalHannah Gapes ran away from the field at the Under Armour Pre-National Invitational on Friday, clocking 18:57.6 for the women's 6k at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana. The NC State senior became the first woman to break 19 minutes on the course, taking 16 seconds off the mark Eastern Kentucky's Brighter Jepchumba had set there less than a month before. Auburn's Faith Chelangat was second in 19:15.5.
Gapes's time was not enough to save the team result. BYU beat NC State 84 to 88 in the women's team race, the Wolfpack's first loss on grass since 2024, a stretch of nearly two years. NC State ran without star sophomore Jane Hedengren, and the result sets up a rematch at the NCAA Championships in November.
In the men's 8k, Tulane's Silas Kiptanui won in 23:17.4, holding off a hard-charging pair from Wichita State: Elkana Kipruto crossed in 23:18.8 and Nicholas Kipchirchir in 23:19.8. Syracuse took the men's team title with 115 points, 12 ahead of Villanova's 127, with Notre Dame third on 148.
Pre-Nationals doubles as a dress rehearsal for the NCAA Championships, run over the same course five weeks later. A course record and a team upset on the eve of the real thing is about as loud as a tune-up gets.
Sources: FloTrack; NC State Athletics; LetsRun.
