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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The American Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships will head to New Orleans for the first time, as 240 athletes from the league’s 12 schools will compete at the Golf Club at Audubon Park on Thursday, October 25. The women’s 6k race starts at 8 a.m. CT/9 a.m. ET, while the men will run the 8k course at 8:50 a.m. CT/9:50 a.m. ET. The championships can be viewed live on Facebook via the American Digital Network. Click here to follow the live results. Dennis McNulty and Paul Boron will anchor the ADN coverage, starting at 7:50 a.m. CT/8:50 ET.
 
Each of the conference’s 2017 individual champions will return to this year’s meet, as SMU’s Hannah Miller and Tulane’s Emmanuel Rotich look to defend their titles. Tulsa’s men’s team is the only current league member to have won a conference championship. The Golden Hurricane will look to extend its streak to five-straight American titles in 2018.
 
UConn took home its first title in 2017 after previously finishing in the top five in four American championship races. Leading the Huskies with a second-place individual finish, UConn’s Brianna O’Brien was named The American’s women’s Freshman of the Year.
 
The league enters the postseason after its teams combined for 17 individual wins and 15 team titles through their 2018 regular-season races. Five men’s and five women’s programs are ranked in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) regional polls.


   
Eleven All-Conference (top 15 finishers) runners from 2017 return to the 2018 race, including the top-four finishers from last year’s meet.
 
A young UConn team cruised to victory with 34 points in 2017, placing five runners in the top 15 and three in the top five. All five of the Huskies’ All-Conference runners return to the championship this year. They averaged a time of 21:18.9 on the way to winning the program’s first American title. In addition to O’Brien, UConn’s All-Conference returnees include Mia Nahom, Haley Hasty, Courtney Akerley and Danielle Jordan. Susan Aneno, who claimed The American outdoor track and NCAA East Regional title in the 800-meter run, joined the elite Husky cross country group this season.
 
UConn finished in the top 15 in each of its four meets this season, including a first-place finish at the Minuteman Invitational to start off the season. The Huskies have seen a different top runner lead the way in each of their four regular-season races.
 
Coming off a second-place finish in 2017 and conference titles in 2013 and 2016, SMU looks for its third championship this year after a solid regular season. SMU has shined across The American, as the only program to crack the USTFCCCA’s top-30 and receive votes in the national coaches’ poll on a consistent basis. Along with Miller, Charlotte Tara Murphy was a top-20 finisher in last year’s conference championship. Svenja Ojstersek has run just behind Miller in each race this season, recording two second-place finishes. Anneke Grogan has been among the Mustangs’ top five in two races. The Mustangs hold the top regional ranking in The American, coming in at No. 3 in the South Central Region.
 
SMU finished third or better in three of its four meets this year, including first-place nods in the Bear Twilight Invitational and Ken Garland Invitational. Following tremendous 2017-18 indoor and outdoor track campaigns, Miller has paced the Mustangs in every race this year. She won two individual titles and placed in the top five in each meet. She has been The American’s Athlete of the Week four times this season to lead the conference.
 
Wichita State’s Winny Koskei finished 18th in last year’s cross country championship but took home The American titles in the 5,000 and 10,000-meter runs during the outdoor track and field championship as a freshman. Koskei has had an impressive start to her sophomore cross country season, earning American Athlete of the Week honors in September. Running against strong fields, Koskei paced the Shockers in two big meets this year. She guided the team to a second-place finish after finishing third at the 30th Annual Chile Pepper Festival. She also placed 11th at the Pre-National meet in a field of 234 athletes, featuring top programs in the nation. Teammate Rebekah Topham has also been running well, as she won her fourth-consecutive J.K. Gold Title and finished in the top five at the Chile Pepper Festival. After taking sixth place last year, Wichita State enters its second American championship ranked No. 12 in the Midwest Region. 
 
Temple holds the second-best regional ranking in The American, coming in at No. 7 on the Mid-Atlantic list. The Owls started their 2018 slate by sweeping the top three spots in both the Temple and Army Invitationals to begin the year with a pair of team victories. Temple placed third in a field of 22 teams at the Princeton Invitational to wrap up its regular season. Kira Von Ehren has led the Owls in two races this year, while Grace Moore and 2018 American indoor track mile champion Millie Howard each collected an individual title. Temple saw its top American championship finish last season when it took third place. Katie Leisher and Lucy Jones led the team in last year’s championship, each finishing in the top 15 to earn All-Conference recognition. They will be returing to the conference championship race this year.
 
Tulsa will join SMU in running for its third conference title after the Golden Hurricane won back-to-back championships in 2014 and 2015. The Golden Hurricane finished fourth in last season’s race. Ashley Barnes had a top-10 finish and is Tulsa’s sole returning All-Conference runner. Sophomore Reagan Hausmann has been among the top runners for the Golden Hurricane, as she guided the team with a fourth-place finish to open the year and won the Missouri Southern Stampede in September. Tulsa will compete for the first time in October when it heads to New Orleans, as the Golden Hurricane ranks No. 11 in the Midwest Region.
 
Houston will look to crack the top five at The American championships for the first time in program history after coming in sixth place last year. The Cougars enter the race ranked No. 14 in the South Central Region. Meredith Sorensen has led Houston in its past three races, notching top-40 finishes in each of those meets.
 
ECU’s Grace Sullivan placed sixth in last year’s American championship, earning a spot on the All-Conference list. Sullivan led ECU in two meets this season. She won the Carolina Challenge in 17:08 to start the year, and paced the Pirates with a seventh-place finish at the Paul Short Run. The Pirates have only run three times this season, but had strong showings at the Carolina Challenge and Pirate Invitational, earning their first regional ranking since 2013.
 
UCF and USF most recently clashed at the South Florida Invitational. UCF’s Victoria Jung led the Knights for a third-straight meet, as UCF took third in the race. Jung has had three top-10 finishes this season.
 
Rania Samhouri and Yaranel Abreu have exchanged top finishes for USF throughout the regular season, earning top-30 spots.
 
Tulane started the year with a first-place finish at the Nicholls Invitational as Mckenzie Melius earned the individual crown. She was also the top runner for the Green Wave in two large races—the Texas A&M Invitational and Pre-National Invitational. Tulane earned its top American finish last season when it placed fifth, as Melius finished 23rd.
 
Memphis’ Paige Sandwell has finished in the top 25 in each of her three appearances this season to lead the Tigers. She ran a personal-record time of 18:23.5 for a 13th-place finish in the Greater Louisville Classic, which featured 287 runners. She was also a top-25 runner in Philadelphia at the 2017 conference championship.
 
Hannah Markel has paced Cincinnati in two of the Bearcats’ four meets this year, recording a pair of top-30 finishes.
   
The men’s 8k race will feature seven All-Conference runners from 2017, including two of the top-five finishers.
 
Four-time defending American champion Tulsa graduated three of its top-25 runners from last year’s team, as the 2017  American men’s Freshman of the Year Scott Beattie is the only returning All-Conference athlete for the Golden Hurricane. However, Tulsa still has four top-50 finishers from last season’s championship. Peter Lynch led Tulsa in both the Missouri Southern Stampede and the Nuttycombe Invitational. The Golden Hurricane won the Missouri Southern Stampede with six top-30 finishers. Redshirt freshman Isaac Akers led the team to a first-place finish with a time of 20:12 at the Hurricane Invitational to start the year. Tulsa owns the best USTFCCCA regional ranking in The American, earning the No. 3 spot in the Midwest Region.
 
Temple holds the second-highest regional ranking among American cross country men’s teams, listed at No. 7 in the Mid-Atlantic Region. The Owls have finished in the top five in each of the past three conference championships after taking the third-place spot last season. The Cherry & White carried the momentum into this season, clinching a pair of first-place finishes to start the year. Juniors Zach Seiger and Kristian Jensen each earned a conference weekly accolade. Seiger placed 23rd at last year’s conference championship, but Anton Harrsen and Kevin Lapsansky were two of the Owls’ three All-Conference runners in 2017 and will be running in this year’s conference championship. In addition to winning the Temple and Army Invitationals, Temple most recently placed third in a 20-team field at the Princeton Invitational with Jensen finishing in the top five.
 
Tulane has had several impressive individual performances this season, highlighted by 2017 conference champion Rotich. Running only twice this year, Rotich captured the title in his first race of the season at the Texas A&M Invitational, placing first of 118 opponents with an 8k time of 23:43.3. He ended the regular season with a top-40 showing at the Wisconsin Pre-National race, facing the best athletes in the nation. In his first collegiate race, freshman Evans Kipchumba claimed the individual title at the LSU Invitational in September in a four-mile race. The Green Wave ranks No. 14 in the South Central Region.
 
Newcomers have shined for Cincinnati this season. The Bearcats earned their first two American cross country Athlete of the Week honors when Northern Kentucky transfer Andrew Schille and 2017 outdoor track 10,000-meter conference champion Aaron Bienenfeld (who is participating in his first-career cross country season) took home awards. Schille won the Queen City Invitational for the third year in a row, becoming the first Bearcat to take home an individual title in seven years. Bienenfeld and Schille each had top-15 finishes at the Greater Louisville Classic, which featured a tough field, as Bienenfeld finished ninth in the meet and lowered his personal record by over a minute. The duo concluded the regular season with top-10 finishes at the Bradley Pink Classic.
 
UConn climbed up two spots in the Northeast Region poll this week to move into No. 11. The Huskies placed second in last years’ conference championship with three runners in the top 15. Two of their All-Conference athletes are on the roster this year, as Patrick Begley and Kyle Brackman will be heading to New Orleans. UConn has been a top-four finisher in each of the conference’s five championships. Begley and Brackman were top runners for the Huskies on two separate occasions, but redshirt-sophomore Eric van der Els has the sole 2018 first-place individual finish for UConn, winning the Minuteman Invitational to start the season. He placed 21st in the 2017 American championship as a freshman.
 
After a strong performance at UAB's Blazer Classic, Memphis returned to the South Region poll at No. 15. The Tigers collected two team titles in their regular season for the fourth time in program history after winning the Rhodes College Invitational and Brooks Twilight Classic. Matthew Kamph has been running well for the Tigers, with top-20 finishes in each race this year. Matthew Viveiros won the men's individual crown at the Rhodes College Invitational and had a top-10 finish in the Brooks Twilight Classic.
 
ECU ran three times this season, as Nick Ciaccia won the men's individual title at the Pirate Invitational to wrap up the regular season. It was Ciaccia’s second title of the season, as he and freshman Ethan Hageman guided a group of nine Pirates to top 20 finishes on the way to winning the Carolina Challenge in ECU’s season opener. Ciaccia was an All-Conference runner last year, taking the 14th-place spot in the conference championship.
 
Houston has had a different runner lead the team in each of the Cougars’ four races this year with Nicholas Fernandes and Devin Fahey each collecting top-10 finishes. The team placed third and second, respectively, at the Aggie Opener and Rice Invitational. Houston graduated its sole 2017 All-Conference athlete, Brian Barraza, who finished second place overall last year.
 
Michael Babinec, who graduated in 2015, has been USF’s only All-Conference cross country runner, as Danny Ferro, Matt Neeley and Evan Babatz each will look to change that this year after guiding the Bulls throughout the regular season. USF has faced large regional fields at both the Mountain Dew Invitational and Disney Cross Country Classic.
 
Wichita State is coming off a top-five finish in its inaugural American championship last season. The Shockers have had a tough schedule this season, facing top teams in the nation at the Chile Pepper Invitational and Wisconsin’s Pre-National races. The American’s 2018 indoor track mile champion Zack Penrod has led Wichita State twice, registering a pair of top-20 finishes. He placed 26th in Philadelphia at the 2017 conference championship.