August 31- September 1 Results:
Men’s Results
| Cincinnati |
Queen City Invite |
RECAP |
| ECU |
Carolina Challenge |
RECAP |
| Houston |
Aggie Opener |
RECAP |
| Memphis |
Brooks Twilight Classic |
RECAP |
| Temple |
Temple Invite |
RECAP |
| Tulane |
Nicholls Cross Country |
RECAP |
| Tulsa |
Hurricane Invite |
RECAP |
| Wichita State |
J.K. Gold Classic |
RECAP |
Women’s Results
| UCF |
FAU Invite |
RECAP |
| Cincinnati |
Queen City Invite |
RECAP |
| ECU |
Carolina Challenge |
RECAP |
| Houston |
Aggie Opener |
RECAP |
| Memphis |
Brooks Twilight Classic |
RECAP |
| SMU |
Bear Twilight Invite |
RECAP |
| Temple |
Temple Invite |
RECAP |
| Tulane |
Nicholls Cross Country |
RECAP |
| Tulsa |
Hurricane Invite |
RECAP |
| Wichita State |
J.K. Gold Classic |
RECAP |
Highlights
Ten American Athletic Conference schools opened their 2018 cross country seasons from August 31-September 1. It proved to be a strong debut across the conference with nine runners taking home individual titles and nine teams winning a race.
- In its first competition under the leadership of head coach Dana Boone, UCF earned third place overall as a squad at the FAU Invitational. Four Knights finished in the top 20 of the 5K race, with nearly every returning Knight posting an improved time. Victoria Jung was the first Knight to cross the finish line, taking fifth place with a collegiate-best time of 18:57.52. She was joined in the top 10 by Jessica Dolan, who also used a personal best mark of 19:14.91 to finish ninth.
- Cincinnati newcomer Andrew Schille led the way, as he won the men's individual title to pace the Bearcats in the meet held at the Valhalla Cross Country Course in Highland Heights, Ky. in the Queen City Invitational. The men placed fourth overall, while the women finished eighth on the day. Schille, a three-year standout at Northern Kentucky before enrolling at graduate school at Cincinnati, won the men's race for the third time in his career in 15:21.9. Sam Mikula led the charge for the women as she placed 19th overall in 18:38.2.
- ECU had a strong start to the 2018 season Saturday when it won both the men's and women's team and individual titles at the Carolina Challenge on the campus of the University of South Carolina. The men, led by individual champion and senior Nick Ciaccia, edged Clemson by one point while far outdistancing Coastal Carolina, Winthrop and South Carolina State. Ciaccia and freshman Ethan Hageman both ran a 15:26, but Ciaccia was a tenth of a second faster. On the women's side, senior Grace Sullivan won the women's race in a time of 17:08. ECU ended up with 22 points to run away with the event while Clemson was second and South Carolina third followed by Georgia Southern, Winthrop, Gardner-Webb, Coastal Carolina and South Carolina State.
- Houston began its season at the Aggie Opener, hosted by Texas A&M on Friday in College Station, Texas. The Cougar women began the 2018 campaign with a 4,100-meter race around Watts Cross Country Course. Houston was led by Jahnavi Schneider, who crossed the line in 15:15.0 to place 13th overall. The team finished fourth in the race. A trio of freshmen led the Cougar men to a third place finish, including redshirt freshman Nicholas Fernandes, who completed the 6,000-meter race as the runner up in 18:42.0.
- Led by Matthew Kamph, the Memphis men's cross country team took home the title at the Brooks Twilight Invitational. Kamph finsihed second place (20:06.55, while Matthew Viveiros joined him in the top 10. The women's team placed ninth.
- SMU opened the season with a first-place finish at the Bear Twilight Invite in Waco with junior Hannah Miller and senior Svenja Ojstersek coming across the line in first and second respectively. Miller's time of 13:18.7 was the fastest 4K time in program history by a whopping 24 seconds. Also topping the previous best, Ojstersek came in at 13:23.4. The pair were a nearly a half-minute clear of the third-place finisher.
- Temple men's cross country squad had an impressive showing despite dreary weather conditions in their first race of the 2018 season. The Owls conquered the challenging 8,000m course at the historic Belmont Plateau, finishing first as a team with senior Louis Corgliano winning the event in a time of 26:56.9. Nine of the top 10 finishers were Owl runners. The Temple women's team also made a statement in their first showing of the season, placing first at the Temple Invitational. The Owls swept the top five for only the second time in program history with junior Millie Howard and sophomore Helene Gottlieb leading the pack. Howard crossed the finish line first with a time of 23:30.0, and Gottlieb was the second place finisher, right by her side with a time of 23:30.4.
- Tulane had a tremendous start to their season with the men and women taking first place and having individual winners at the Nicholls Cross Country Invitational on Saturday morning. The Green Wave women took five of the top eight scoring positions to score 24 points in the win on Nicholls Farm. On the men's side, Tulane had all five runners in the top 13 to finish with a winning 42 points. Two juniors shined for Tulane as Mckenzie Melius and Carlos Zervigon were the Green Wave's individual winners.
- In his first collegiate race, redshirt freshman Isaac Akers led the Tulsa to a first-place finish with a first-place four-mile time of 20:12 at the Hurricane Invitational on Saturday morning at Mohawk Sports Complex. Meanwhile, Reagan Hausmann paced the TU women's squad with a fourth-place finish in the two-mile race. The men had four finish in the top 10, while the women had three.
- Rebekah Topham led Wichita State to a team title, winning her fourth consecutive individual title, while the Shocker men placed second with 30 points. Topahm finished the 4K (2.49 miles) course in 13:48.3, leading the women to a team title for the third time in four seasons. Zack Penrod finished second overall, behind unattached runner Joe Moore winning the individual title with a time of 18:15.6. The men's team scored a total of 30 points finishing second behind in-state rival and Big 12 opponent Kansas State.