WATCH | CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The American Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships is set to commence in Memphis, Tennessee, as 219 athletes from the conference’s 12 member institutions will race at Shelby Farms Park on Friday, Nov. 1. The men’s 8K race starts at 10 a.m. CT/11 a.m. ET, while the women will run the 6K course at 10:50 a.m. CT/11:50 a.m. ET. The championships can be viewed live on Facebook via the American Digital Network.
 
Defending 2018 women’s individual champion Winny Koskei of Wichita State returns to defend her crown (21:51.96 winning time from 2018) from a season ago in New Orleans. Four of the top five finishers from the 2018 men’s 8K championship are expected to compete in Memphis, including 2018 runner-up Scott Beattie of Tulsa (27:09.02 meet time last season).
 
Tulsa is in search of its sixth straight men’s cross country championship since joining The American in 2014. The Golden Hurricane has boasted no fewer than four top-15 finishers in any of Tulsa’s prior five starts at the championship meet. Wichita State earned its first American Cross Country Championship on the strength of Koskei’s individual victory a season ago, and will attempt to be the first women’s program from The American to successfully defend its cross country title since Tulsa accomplished the feat in 2015.
 
MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP RACE PREVIEW
 
A total of nine all-conference performers (2018 top 15 finishers) are expected to compete in the 2019 race field in Memphis, including the second (Scott Beattie, Tulsa), third (Aaron Bienenfeld, Cincinnati), fourth (Peter Lynch, Tulsa) and fifth (Zach Seiger, Temple) place runners from last year’s championship.
 
Cincinnati has already experienced team success at the Park in Memphis earlier this season, claiming fifth place in the Rhodes College Invitational on Sept. 20. Bienenfeld raced to the individual race victory with a time of 24:10.1 to claim the first of his two American Men’s Cross Country Male Runner of the Week accolades of the year. Bienenfeld added his second individual win of 2019 on Oct. 19 at the Under Armour NCAA Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana, finishing the 8K in 24:04.5.
 
Other top finishers during the season for Cincinnati included Ryan Guenthner in ninth place in the 5K at the 38th Queen City Invitational on Aug. 31 (15:26.0) and Christian Stevens in 38th place in the 8K (25:30.2) at the Louisville Cross Country Classic on Oct. 5.
 
UConn posted a pair of runner-up team finishes during the season, taking second place at the UMass Minuteman Invitational on Sept. 7 and cruising in second at the Princeton Invitational on Oct. 19. Eric Van Der Els picked up the individual win in the 6K at UMass with a top time of 19:22.0, and teammate Will Brisman was fourth overall in 19:31.0. Brisman led the way for the Huskies in the 8K at Princeton by logging an eighth-place time of 24:09.0, with Van Der Els close behind in ninth place with a time of 24:10.0.
 
East Carolina fashioned a team runner-up result at the Navy Invitational on Sept. 14 and added third-place finishes at the Appalachian State Covered Bridge Open on Aug. 30 and the Pirate Invitational on Oct. 18. Joshua Spare guided ECU in fifth place at Navy with a time of 25:30.78, and Ethan Hageman added a fifth-place result of his own at the Pirate Invitational after crossing the finish line in 24:29.43. In his collegiate debut, Chase Osborne paced the Pirates in 12th place (26:12.32) at the Covered Bridge Open.
 
Houston earned one team race victory at the Lake Charles Toyota Cowboy Stampede, hosted by McNeese State, on Sept. 28 and checked in with a fourth-place finish to kick off 2019 on Sept. 13 at the Rice Invitational in Houston. Jemal Wote crossed the finish line in fourth place overall in Lake Charles (20:07.4), ultimately earning American Male Runner of the Week recognition for the performance. Devin Vallejo-Bannister set the pace for the Cougars in the season-opener at Rice in seventh place after crossing the finish line in 20:02.99.
 
Memphis got off to a strong start in 2019 after Payton Gleason claimed the first conference weekly runner of the week award by finishing in sixth place (20:01.95) on the four-mile course at the City Auto Memphis Twilight Classic on Aug. 31. The Tigers claimed second place at the North Alabama Invitational 8K on Sept. 7, powered by Zachary Wyatt’s individual win with a time of 25:36.8. In its first appearance at the Park as part of the Rhodes College Invitational on Sept. 21, Memphis was the meet runner-up after Gleason led the way in seventh place (24:40.0) and Wyatt checked in ninth (24:45.7).
 
USF enjoyed a pair of top-five finishes on the men’s side during the season, winning its own USF Invitational on Oct. 5 in Tampa after opening the year in fourth place at the FGCU Invitational on Sept. 7. Alec Latzke guided the Bulls to 13th place at FGCU to start the 2019 campaign, placing 13th in the 8K with a time of 27:25.64. Latzke crossed the finish line in third place in the 5K at the USF Invitational (16:18.27) and Ben Kailes took fourth (16:23.17) pushing USF to the win in its home event.
 
Temple returns a pair of 2018 all-conference performers in Kristian Jensen (sixth place at the 2018 conference meet) and Kevin Lapsansky (14th place at the 2018 conference meet) for this year’s championship meet in Memphis. The Owls notched a team victory at the Penn State National Open on Oct. 18 and finished third at the Iona Meet of Champions on Sept. 20 to highlight the regular season. Zach Seiger led the way for the Owls in the 8K at Penn State with a fifth-place time of 25:36.7, while Seiger had previously set the pace for Temple in eighth place (25:07.8) at Iona.
 
Tulane fashioned three straight runner-up starts to open the 2019 season, taking second at the UNO Cross Country Opener on Aug. 30, the Nicholls Cross Country Invitational on Sept. 21 and the LSU Cross Country Invitational on Sept. 27. Evans Kipchumba, a 2018 all-conference selection, won the UNO Cross Country Opener 5K champion with a time of 15:13.10. Kipchumba added another race win at Nicholls in 20:52.98, and finished fifth at LSU with a 5K time of 15:08.41. Tom Coe was the runner-up to Kipchumba at both UNO (15:33.17) and Nicholls (21:05.27).
 
A total of five 2018 all-conference selections are expected be back in the fold for defending champion Tulsa, with Cameron Field (seventh place at the 2018 conference meet), Isaac Akers (eighth place at the 2018 conference meet) and Adam Breaux (12th place at the 2018 conference meet) joining Scott Beattie and Peter Lynch. The Golden Hurricane took the team win in its initial trip to the Park on Sept. 21 at the Rhodes College Invitational, and added a third-place result ahead of 14 top-25 foes on Oct. 18 at the Nuttycombe Invitational in Wisconsin. Beattie was the runner-up in the 8K in his season debut at the Rhodes College Invitational with a time of 24:21.5, and Lynch led the way in 14th place individually (23:56.1) at the Nuttycombe Invitational to claim American Co-Male Runner of the Week honors.
 
Wichita State enjoyed a team championship at the JK Gold Classic on Sept. 7 and completed in nationally-regarded fields at the Bill Dellinger Invitational on Sept. 28 in Eugene, Oregon, and the Under Armour NCAA Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 19 in Terre Haute. Ben Flowers picked up the win for the Shockers at the JK Gold Classic with a 6K time of 18:38.2, claiming American Male Runner of the Week accolades in the process.
 
WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP RACE PREVIEW
 
A total of eight all-conference (top 15 from 2018) runners are tentatively among the 2019 entries in Memphis, including defending champion Winny Koskei from Wichita State and third-place finisher Rebekah Topham from Wichita State.
 
UCF opened as the race runner-up at the FAU Cross Country Invitational on Aug. 30, adding a first-place showing at the UCF Invitational in Orlando on Sept. 27, fifth place at the FSU Invitational on Oct. 11 and an eighth-place result in a 35-team national field at the Mountain Dew Invitational on Sept. 14. Jamie Tomassetti placed fourth at FAU in the season-opener (18:38.16) to capture the initial American Female Runner of the Week plaudit of 2019. Jessica Dolan finished second overall in the 6K with a time of 22:32.90 to guide the Knights to victory at the UCF Invitational, and Tomassetti added a 13th-place 5K result in 18:42.50 at the Mountain Dew Invitational.
 
Cincinnati enjoyed a team race victory at the 29th Friendship Invitational on Sept. 14 to go along with a runner-up showing at the Rhodes College Invitational on Sept. 21 and third place at the 38th Queen City Invitational to open the regular season on Aug. 31. Ellie Leather paced the Bearcats in her team debut in the season-opener, finishing fifth in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:04.7. Hannah Markel claimed her first career victory at the 29th Friendship Invitational with a 5K time of 17:32.50, as Leather was right behind as the runner-up in 17:38.10. Leather added her second straight top five by taking third at the Rhodes College Invitational at the Park with a time of 21:41.0.
 
Mia Nahom represents UConn as a returning all-conference standout following a Huskies 2019 slate that included a runner-up showing at the Minutemen Invitational on Sept. 7 and fourth place at the Princeton Invitational on Oct. 19. Nahom’s sixth-place time of 17:49.0 at UMass guided UConn to kick off the season, prior to finishing as the race runner-up in the women’s 6K at Princeton with an official time of 21:15.0.
 
East Carolina kicked off 2019 with a runner-up showing at the Covered Bridge Open on Aug. 30 before contributing a race win at the Navy Invitational on Sept. 14 and a third-place showing in the Pirate Invitational on Oct. 18. Nuria Tillo-Prats was the 6K champion at the Navy meet in Annapolis, Maryland, with a top time of 22:21.10, followed by Laura Green (22:38.44) in second, Abby Yourkavitch in third (22:44.69) and Jenna Strange in fourth (22:55.60). Yourkavitch guided ECU in eighth place with a time of 21:30.39 in the 6K at the Pirate Invitational.
 
Houston took the top spot on the podium in its first two starts of the year, running to victory at the Rice Invitational on Sept. 13 and at the Lake Charles Toyota Cowboy Stampede on Sept. 28. Meredith Sorensen (third place, 13:57.89), Jahnavi Schneider (fourth place, 13:59.47) and Darby Gauntt (fifth place, 14:04.44) each placed in the top five for the Cougars at Rice. Gauntt’s 5K showing of 18:01.6 was good enough for fourth at Lake Charles, with Sorensen next to cross for Houston in sixth with a time of 18:18.3.
 
Memphis logged a team runner-up result at the North Alabama Invitational on Sept. 7, adding third place at the Rhodes College Invitational in Memphis on Sept. 21 at the site of this weekend’s conference championship meet. Gabrielle Byndas led the way for the Tigers at North Alabama in the 5K in fifth place with a time of 18:46.2, and Callie Friske claimed eighth place in her initial appearance at the Park during the Rhodes College Invitational with a time of 21:43.9.
 
USF opened the season on a roll with a runner-up result at the FGCU Invitational on Sept. 7 before taking the race victory as hosts of the USF Invitational on Oct. 5. Alexandra Weir took fifth place in the women’s 5K at FGCU (19:22.19) before winning the USF Invitational 5K with a time of 18:42.78 to claim her first career American Female Runner of the Week honor. Weir added a sixth-place showing at the Mountain Few Invitational in Gainesville, Florida on Sept. 14, posting a top time of 18:17.50 representing the Bulls.
 
SMU picked up a race victory during the Ken Garland Invitational on Sept. 7, adding a fourth-place showing at the A&M Invitational on Sept. 13. Maddie Hulcy claimed race runner-up honors at the Ken Garland Invitational with a time of 18:55.96, with Tess Misgen in sixth with a time of 19:14.6. Charlotte Murphy led the way for the Mustangs at Texas A&M in 17th place in the women’s 5K (19:15.50).
 
Temple returns a pair of all-conference performers in Helene Gottlieb and Michelle Joyce from last season’s third-place showing in New Orleans. The Owls earned a top regular-season finish of fifth place at the Iona Meet of Champions on Sept. 20, led by Joyce in 10th place with a time of 18:19.2.
 
Tulane was victorious in its season-opener at the UNO Cross Country Opener on Aug. 30 before adding in runner-up results at the Nicholls Cross Country Invitational on Sept. 21 and LSU Cross Country Invitational on Sept. 27. Mckenzie Melius was the race runner-up at UNO with a time of 14:51.76 on the 4K course, with Brigid Selfors fourth in 15:33.78. Melius cruised to victory at Nicholls with a 5K time of 18:56.42, prior to taking fourth place at LSU with a time of 18:27.55.
 
Tulsa welcomes back a league-high three all-conference runners from last season’s championships in 2019, Caitlin Klopfer, Jenny O’Bryan and Ashley Barnes. Klopfer took home the race win at the Rhodes College Invitational on Sept. 21 at the Park (21:26.3), earning American Female Runner of the Week on the strength of the 6K victory. Klopfer added a ninth-place result in the 5K with a time of 16:57.2 at the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival later in the season.
 
Alongside defending individual champion Winny Koskei, 2018 third-place finisher Rebekah Topham is set to compete for Wichita State as the Shockers attempt to also repeat as the team champion. Koskei claimed American Female Runner of the Week honors on a pair of occasions during the regular season, after winning the 4K (13:48.5) at the JK Gold Classic on Sept. 7 and on the strength of a seventh-place showing (20:23.8) at the Under Armour NCAA Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 19.