PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A combined 10 men’s and women’s cross country teams from the American Athletic Conference are set to return to the course this week in three separate meets nationally. The full men’s and women’s composite cross country schedules for the 2019 season are included.
 
Temple is set to send its men’s and women’s teams to the Iona Meet of Champions on Friday in the Bronx, New York. The men’s 8K race will commence at 10 a.m. (ET), while the women’s 5K championship showdown is set for 10:45 a.m. The Iona Meet of Champions marks the second start of the 2019 campaign for the Owls after both teams opened the season at the Lehigh Invitational on Aug. 30.
 
Cincinnati will be represented in both the men’s 8K and the women’s 6K races at the Rhodes College Invitational on Saturday in Memphis, Tennessee. The Bearcats are one of 21 teams competing in the field, including American Athletic Conference foes Memphis and Tulsa. On the men’s side, Cincinnati returns to completion for the first time since racing at the Queen City Invitational on Aug. 30, while the Bearcat women claimed a team victory and Hannah Markel took home an individual 5K title in 17:32.50 last weekend at the Friendship Invitational in Cedarville, Ohio.
 
Memphis is back in action for the first time since securing a pair of runner-up results at the North Alabama Invitational on Sept. 8 in Florence, Alabama. Zachary Wyatt raced to victory in the men’s 8K at North Alabama with a time of 25:36.8, while Gabrielle Byndas finished fifth in the women’s 5K with a time of 18:46.2. The Tigers scored 47 points in the men’s standings and 58 points in the women’s competition to place second in both races.
 
Tulsa returns to the course for the second time this fall at the Rhodes College Invitational after debuting at the Hurricane Preview on Aug. 31. The Golden Hurricane women claimed a second place finish and the men placed third at the Hurricane Preview meet. Caroline Miller led the way for Tulsa with a women’s top time of 13:00.0, while Jackson Schwartz crossed the finish line in 20:24.0 to pace the men.
 
Tulane rounds out the conference competitors for the weekend with a Saturday entry at the Nicholls Cross Country Invitational in Thibodaux, Louisiana. The Green Wave swept the competition to open the season at the UNO Cross Country Opener on Aug. 30 in New Orleans. McKenzie Melius led the Tulane women’s squad with a winning 4K time of 14:51.76 at UNO, and Evans Kipchumba claimed the men’s 5K championship by way of a 15:13.10 finish in the season opener.