CINCINNATI - The latest regional and national cross country rankings have been released by the USTFCCCA with the University of Cincinnati men and women both earning places in the Top 15 of the Great Lakes Region. The men moved up one spot to #13 while the women earned the first ranking of the year, coming in at #15. The ranking is also the first for the women since the 2010 season.
// BEEN A WHILE
The last time the women held a regional ranking was in 2010 as they earned a regional ranking each week of the season with a high of #12 earned in both weeks four and five. Since then, the women have not seen their name listed in the regional rankings.
// HOW THEY GOT IN
The women earned their first regional ranking in nine years after a dominating performance at the Friendship Invitational over the weekend in Cedarville, Ohio. The women won the team title with 40 points - 20 more than the runner-up - and saw Hannah Markel win the race in 17:32.5, a 32-second lowering of her personal-best time. Markel led the 1-2 finish with Ellie Leather just behind her at 17:38.1, a PR of nearly 27 seconds. Overall, the Bearcats had three finishers in the Top 10 (freshman Maddie Walker was 7th overall) while the team's Top 5 scorers were among the Top 16 and the Top 7 were all in the Top 20. Additionally, the five scoring times placed within a 1:19 spread of one another as well.
// RANKED MEN
The men have slipped in and out of the regional rankings over the past several years. With a ranking of #14 in the preseason poll and then #13 this week, the Bearcats appear in the Great Lakes listing for multiple times in the same season for the first time since 2016 when they were ranked as high as #13 twice.
// FIRST TIME SINCE...
Today's rankings mark the first time both the UC men and women have held regional rankings in the same week since week six of the 2010 polls. That week, the women slipped to #15 while the men joined the rankings for the first time that season at #14. Both squads would be ranked in the Top 15 the remainder of the season.
// NEXT MEET
The women, along with the men, will be back in action next week in Memphis, Tenn., as the Bearcats will travel to the Rhodes College Invitational on Saturday, September 21. The course being used will be the same utilized later this season for the 2019 American Athletic Conference Championships.
Bearcats Move into USTFCCCA Regional Rankings
The latest regional and national cross country rankings have been released by the USTFCCCA with the University of Cincinnati men and women both earning places in the Top 15 of the Great Lakes Region. The men moved up one spot to 13 while the women earned the first ranking of the year, coming in at 15.
