The University of Mississippi Athletics
Saturday, November 22
Columbia, Mo.
10:10 AM
Ole Miss
vs
NCAA Championships
Men’s Cross Country Set for 2025 NCAA Championships
11/20/2025 | Cross Country
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Ole Miss men's cross country will be looking for a high team finish on the national stage at the 2025 NCAA Championships, hosted this Saturday morning at the University of Missouri's Gans Creek Cross Country Course. ESPNU will begin live coverage at 9 a.m. CT, with the men's championship 10K scheduled for 10:10 a.m. CT.
For the Rebel men, this marks their 12th consecutive appearance with at least an individual or a team at nationals since 2014, as well as their 11th team berth in that same span. Ole Miss has not finished worse than 25th at the national meet on the men's side since 2015, and this year's trip to NCAAs is the third men's national ticket for cross country coach Adam Smith since arriving in 2022.
This is the third time Ole Miss will run on Mizzou's superb but challenging Gans Creek Course this season alone, as the Rebels got a feel for how to run there at the Gans Creek Classic on Sept. 26 and again at the Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 17. The course is set to receive a good deal of rain over the next 48 hours, but the current race day forecast for Saturday morning has sunny conditions with temperatures in the mid-40s and mild winds.
Men's Championship 10K Preview • 10:10 a.m. CT
No. 25 Ole Miss Men • NCAA Roster
Zack Gilbertson
Toby Gillen
Owen Kelley
Kidus Misgina
Marco Perez
Gabe Scales
John Shoemaker
Evan Thornton-Sherman
NCAA Team Finish History
2014 – 29th
2015 – 30th
2016 – 4th
2017 – 18th
2018 – 17th
2019 – 22nd
2020 – 12th
2021 – 15th
2022 – 24th
2024 – 25th
One week ago at the NCAA South Regional, it was do-or-die time for the Ole Miss men.
After a 10th-place finish at the SEC Championship, the Rebels could not comfortably rely on a possible at-large berth to nationals – it needed to make sure of it with an automatic qualifier as one of the top two teams.
And that is exactly what Smith's Rebel squad did. Ole Miss bounced back in spectacular fashion, upsetting the 19th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs by two points, 75-77, to nab the second auto-bid behind No. 9 Alabama (37). Ole Miss registered a scoring spread of just 1:17 and placed four runners within the top-25 for All-Region honors – including two key performances by redshirt junior Kidus Misgina and senior Toby Gillen.
Misgina, who has been the low-stick for the Rebels all season long, had a career-best day in the regional 10K, running a cross country PR of 29:20.44 to finish fifth. But it was Gillen – a mainstay of the Rebel distance program both in cross country and on the track since arriving in the fall of 2023 – right behind him in sixth place to give Ole Miss a crucial one-two punch to stay ahead of Georgia for the AQ.
Fellow seniors Evan Thornton-Sherman (13th, 29:51.93, PR) and Marco Perez (22nd, 30:13.17) played their parts brilliantly as well for the first All-Region honors of their careers, but it was sophomore Zack Gilbertson in 34th place who saved the auto-bid for Ole Miss at his career-best 10K of 30:37.27.
Freshmen John Shoemaker (50th, 30:58.64) and Owen Kelley (52nd, 30:59.01) also put together strong performances today in their first career 10Ks. All seven Rebels from last week's South Regional are on the national squad list this week, as is senior Gabe Scales.
Saturday's race in Columbia will be big for Ole Miss in more ways than one. A possible breakout performance on a national stage for Misgina. One final time toeing the line for Gillen in his excellent Rebel career, as well as fellow seniors Perez, Scales and Thornton-Sherman in cross country. The first national meet experience for the talented Rebel underclass. And a chance to keep Ole Miss' top-25 finish streak going and give Smith's distance squad momentum heading into the indoor track season.
For the Rebel men, this marks their 12th consecutive appearance with at least an individual or a team at nationals since 2014, as well as their 11th team berth in that same span. Ole Miss has not finished worse than 25th at the national meet on the men's side since 2015, and this year's trip to NCAAs is the third men's national ticket for cross country coach Adam Smith since arriving in 2022.
This is the third time Ole Miss will run on Mizzou's superb but challenging Gans Creek Course this season alone, as the Rebels got a feel for how to run there at the Gans Creek Classic on Sept. 26 and again at the Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 17. The course is set to receive a good deal of rain over the next 48 hours, but the current race day forecast for Saturday morning has sunny conditions with temperatures in the mid-40s and mild winds.
Men's Championship 10K Preview • 10:10 a.m. CT
No. 25 Ole Miss Men • NCAA Roster
Zack Gilbertson
Toby Gillen
Owen Kelley
Kidus Misgina
Marco Perez
Gabe Scales
John Shoemaker
Evan Thornton-Sherman
NCAA Team Finish History
2014 – 29th
2015 – 30th
2016 – 4th
2017 – 18th
2018 – 17th
2019 – 22nd
2020 – 12th
2021 – 15th
2022 – 24th
2024 – 25th
One week ago at the NCAA South Regional, it was do-or-die time for the Ole Miss men.
After a 10th-place finish at the SEC Championship, the Rebels could not comfortably rely on a possible at-large berth to nationals – it needed to make sure of it with an automatic qualifier as one of the top two teams.
And that is exactly what Smith's Rebel squad did. Ole Miss bounced back in spectacular fashion, upsetting the 19th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs by two points, 75-77, to nab the second auto-bid behind No. 9 Alabama (37). Ole Miss registered a scoring spread of just 1:17 and placed four runners within the top-25 for All-Region honors – including two key performances by redshirt junior Kidus Misgina and senior Toby Gillen.
Misgina, who has been the low-stick for the Rebels all season long, had a career-best day in the regional 10K, running a cross country PR of 29:20.44 to finish fifth. But it was Gillen – a mainstay of the Rebel distance program both in cross country and on the track since arriving in the fall of 2023 – right behind him in sixth place to give Ole Miss a crucial one-two punch to stay ahead of Georgia for the AQ.
Fellow seniors Evan Thornton-Sherman (13th, 29:51.93, PR) and Marco Perez (22nd, 30:13.17) played their parts brilliantly as well for the first All-Region honors of their careers, but it was sophomore Zack Gilbertson in 34th place who saved the auto-bid for Ole Miss at his career-best 10K of 30:37.27.
Freshmen John Shoemaker (50th, 30:58.64) and Owen Kelley (52nd, 30:59.01) also put together strong performances today in their first career 10Ks. All seven Rebels from last week's South Regional are on the national squad list this week, as is senior Gabe Scales.
Saturday's race in Columbia will be big for Ole Miss in more ways than one. A possible breakout performance on a national stage for Misgina. One final time toeing the line for Gillen in his excellent Rebel career, as well as fellow seniors Perez, Scales and Thornton-Sherman in cross country. The first national meet experience for the talented Rebel underclass. And a chance to keep Ole Miss' top-25 finish streak going and give Smith's distance squad momentum heading into the indoor track season.
Players Mentioned
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
Who To Watch: Ole Miss Track and Field
Wednesday, October 08