IRVING, Texas – The 2021 American Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships are set to take place on Oct. 29 at Holloway Park in Lakeland, Florida. The men’s championship 8K is scheduled for 8 a.m. (ET)/7 a.m. (CT), with the women’s championship 6K to follow at 8:50 a.m. (ET)/7:50 a.m. (CT). Live coverage of the meet will commence on ESPN+ at 7:50 a.m. (ET)/6:50 a.m. (CT), with Dennis McNulty on the call of both races and The American’s Morgan Uber with interviews at Holloway Park.
NEW INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS WILL BE CROWNED
The American will have new individual champions in both the women’s championship 6K and the men’s championship 8K at this season’s conference meet. Aaron Bienenfeld, the 2019 American men’s champion while at Cincinnati, transferred to Oregon to complete his final season of collegiate eligibility in 2021. Tulsa’s Patrick Dever, who dethroned Bienenfeld to win the 2020 American cross country title, finished his Tulsa career as the NCAA champion in the outdoor 10,000-meter run this past spring. Wichita State standout Winny Koskei became the first athlete in conference history to win three straight American cross country championships after closing her career by sweeping the top of the podium at the 2018-20 conference meets.
TOP RETURNING PERFORMERS LOOKING TO TAKE THE CROWN IN 2021
Even though the most recent individual champions have departed the conference, many all-conference performers from the 2020 American Cross Country Championships are expected to start in this season’s field. Tulsa’s Scott Beattie, the 2020 championship runner-up to teammate Dever, leads the expected men’s all-conference returners at the 2021 American meet. Tulsa teammates Peter Lynch (fourth in 2020), Isaac Akers (sixth in 2020), reigning American Freshman of the Year Shay McEvoy (10th in 2020) and Christian Baker (12th in 2020) are also in the projected 2021 field. Cincinnati’s Alec Sandusky (fifth in 2020), Toni Banos (13th in 2020) and Tyler Wirth (15th in 2020), Memphis’ Zachary Wyatt (ninth in 2020) and Payton Gleason (11th in 2020), and Wichita State’s Jed Helker (14th in 2020) round out the returning all-conference performers on the probable 2021 men’s 8K start list.
Cincinnati’s Ellie Leather is the top returning finisher from a season ago in the women’s 6K, placing third at the 2020 meet. Other probable all-conference returners in the field for the 2021 American meet include Leather’s Cincinnati teammate Maddie Walker (15th in 2020), reigning American Freshman of the Year from UCF Valerie Lastra (fourth in 2020), East Carolina’s Lindsay Yentz (eighth in 2020), Temple’s Michelle Joyce (ninth in 2020) and Lea Kerbiriou (10th in 2020), Tulsa’s Katharina Pesendorfer (sixth in 2020), Caroline Miller (seventh in 2020) and Abbey Yuhasz (11th in 2020), and Wichita State’s Yazmine Wright (fifth in 2020) and McKenna Paintin (13th in 2020).
TULSA IN SEARCH OF EIGHTH STRAIGHT AMERICAN MEN’S TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
The Tulsa men’s team looks to extend its reign of team success at the American Cross Country Championships at Holloway Park. The Golden Hurricane has captured the men’s team title at every American championship meet dating back to 2014, winning by 10 or more points in each of the seven consecutive victories. Tulsa runners have won four individual conference championships during the streak, with American Runner of the Year Patrick Dever capturing the 2020 title in Wichita, Kansas.
GOLDEN HURRICANE TRY TO MAKE IT THREE STRAIGHT AMERICAN WOMEN’S TEAM TITLES
Tulsa’s women’s program has also emerged as a force dating back to the 2019 American Cross Country Championships, as the Golden Hurricane look for a third straight meet victory in 2021. Tulsa, a four-time American champion (2014, 2015, 2019, 2020), has missed the podium just once (fourth in 2017) since joining The American prior to the 2014 season.
TOP PERFORMANCES OF THE 2021 SEASON
Cincinnati’s Alec Sandusky was a two-time American Men’s Athlete of the Week during the 2021 cross country season on the strength of a pair of individual wins. Sandusky took first place in the men’s 6K at the Butler Twilight on Sept. 3 with a time of 17:42.0. Sandusky then raced to victory in the Men’s Gold 5-Mile race at the Notre Dame Joe Piane Invitational on Oct. 1 with a time of 24:17.2.
Wichita State’s Jed Helker was the Sept. 21 American Men’s Athlete of the Week after winning the 8K at the Greeno/Dirksen Invitational on Sept. 18 in Lincoln, Nebraska. Helker took the top spot with a PR time of 24:18.0. Memphis’ Payton Gleason claimed the Oct. 19 American Men’s Athlete of the Week award following a win in the Men’s 8K Gold race at the UAB Blazer Classic (Oct. 16) with a time of 24:23.5.
Wichita State’s Yazmine Wright was dominant throughout the entire fall, winning American Women’s Athlete of the Week three times on the strength of a trio of individual wins. Wright took first place at the Wichita State JK Gold Classic on Sept. 4 with a 5K time of 17:34.1, won the women’s 6K at the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, Missouri, on Oct. 1 with a time of 20:53.9, and paced the field in the 6K at the Bradley Pink Classic on Oct. 15 after crossing the finish line in 20:35.6.
Darby Gauntt from Houston also picked up an American Women’s Athlete of the Week citation after placing second at the Rice Invitational on Sept. 18 in Houston with a 4K time of 13:55.0.