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IRVING, Texas – The 2020 American Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships are set to take place on Feb. 6 at the 4 Mile Creek Resort in Augusta, Kansas. The women’s championship 6K is scheduled for 11 a.m. (ET)/10 a.m. (CT), with the men’s championship 8K to follow at 11:50 a.m. (ET)/10:50 a.m. (CT). Live coverage of the meet will commence on ESPN+ at 10:50 a.m. (ET)/9:50 a.m. (CT).
BOTH DEFENDING INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS BACK IN THE FIELD
The individual winners of both the men’s and women’s races from the 2019 American Cross Country Championships return to the meet field for the 2020 edition of the championship.
Cincinnati redshirt senior Aaron Bienenfeld won last year’s men’s 8K race at Shelby Farms Park in Memphis, Tennessee, by nearly 30 full seconds (23:43.46) and is set to return to defend his crown. Bienenfeld was ultimately named the 2019 American Men’s Runner of the Year and was a USTFCCCA all-region performer. The native of Frankfurt, Germany, is in search of a third straight podium finish after placing third in his American championship debut in 2018 in New Orleans.
Wichita State senior Winny Koskei is in search of a third straight American cross country title after defending her 6K championship with a winning time of 20:14.18 at Memphis in 2019. Koskei is one of two multiple champions in the history of women’s championship (Anne-Marie Blaney, UCF, 2013 and 2016) and could become the first runner in either gender to win three American cross country meets during a career. The Kericho, Kenya, native was the 2019 American Women’s Runner of the Year and was the top American women’s finisher (47th place) at the 2019 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships.
KEEP AN EYE ON MORE THAN JUST THE DEFENDING CHAMPS
Along with defending champion Aaron Bienenfeld, a total of eight all-conference selections (top-15 finishers) from the 2019 American men’s championship are expected to enter the field at 4 Mile Creek Resort. Tulsa’s Scott Beatie (second in 2019), Isaac Akers (third in 2019), Peter Lynch (fourth in 2019), Patrick Dever (fifth in 2019) and Cameron Field (sixth in 2019) are included in the probable men’s 8K meet lineup, joining ninth-place finisher Payton Gleason from Memphis and 13th-place performer Joshua Spare from East Carolina.
In the women’s 6K, two-time champion Winny Koskei is one of nine returning all-conference runners from a season ago. Tulsa’s Caitlin Klopfer (third in 2019), Jenny O’Bryan (eighth in 2019), Caroline Miller (10th in 2019) and Katharina Pesendorfer (12th in 2019), Cincinnati’s Lauren Kemper (fifth in 2019) and Ellie Leather (11th in 2019), Wichita State’s Yazmine Wright (13th in 2019) and Temple’s Michelle Joyce (15th in 2019) are expected to run in the 2020 championship.
TULSA MEN AIM FOR SEVENTH STRAIGHT AMERICAN TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
The Tulsa men’s team travels to 4 Mile Creek Resort in search of a seventh straight men’s cross country championship since joining The American prior to the 2014 season. The 20 points scored at last season’s championship meet by the Golden Hurricane, after Tulsa runners swept the second through sixth positions in the final standings, established a conference record.
TOP PERFORMANCES DURING ABBREVIATED SEASON
Due to the postponement of the championship segment of the NCAA cross country season from the fall of 2020 to the spring of 2021, a host of teams will officially compete for the first time this season during the 2020 American Cross Country Championships.
Of the teams who did compete in regular-season meets prior to the championships, Memphis finished second in the men’s 8K and women’s 5K at the SEMO Redhawks XC Invite on Jan. 23. Zachary Wyatt (24:29.70), Payton Gleason (24:40.40) and Tate Wyatt (24:52.40) were the second through fourth individual finishers for the Memphis men, and Chablis Shreffler (18:23.10), Brooke Mussche (18:29.50) and Chloe Figgins (18:31.60) placed fourth through sixth for the Tigers in the women’s raise.
Cincinnati won the men’s 6K and placed second in the women’s 5K during the JK Gold Classic on Jan. 23. Aaron Bienenfeld was the men’s runner-up with a time of 17:45.20 and Ellie Leather crossed in second place in the women’s race with a time of 17:24.60.
Wichita State finished just behind Cincinnati in second in the men’s 6K standings and outpointed the Bearcats for the win in the women’s 5K as the host of the JK Gold Classic on Jan. 23. Winny Koskei captured the women’s 5K with a winning time of 17:19.20.
USF earned a team win in the men’s 8K and finished as the runner-up in the women’s 5K at the UCF Cross Country Invite on Jan. 23. Nicholas Kamen (25:02.10) and Benjamin Kailes (25:17.30) led the USF men as the top two runners to cross the finish line, and Kaleigh Bliss (18:47.00) powered the women in fifth place.
The UCF women were the overall winner of the UCF Cross Country Invite on Jan. 23. Valerie Lastra was the overall winner with a time of 17:43.60, with Ali Del Re (18:16.90) and Victoria Jung (18:26.70) completing the podium sweep for the Knights.
Houston placed second in the men’s 3.1 mile run and the women finished third in the same distance while competing in the HBU Season Opener on Jan. 24. Devin Vallejo-Bannister posted a runner-up time of 16:08.90 in the men’s race, and Madeline Castleberry was third in the women’s race with a time of 19:39.50.