Bienenfeld Captures Title at Rhodes Invitational

CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati cross country teams put forth a strong showing at the 2019 Rhodes College Invitational Saturday morning as Aaron Bienenfeld led the way for the men with an individual victory while the women placed all five of their scoring runners in the Top 25 to finish second as a team on the Shelby Farms Course in Memphis, Tenn. The Bearcats, running on the same course that will be used later this season for the 2019 American Athletic Conference Championships, also were able to square off with two other league foes including Tulsa and Memphis.

// TEAM RESULTS
Both teams competed against 20 other schools in the meet with the women finishing as the runners-up and the men fifth overall. On the women's side, Tulsa scored 21 points to take the team title with the Bearcats second with 67 and Memphis third with 72. Arkansas State (107) and Centre College (188), the #28 team in NCAA Division III, rounded out the Top 5. On the men's side, #30 Tulsa was victorious with 20 points with Memphis (63), ASU (109), NCAA Division III #29 Emory (117) and UC (138) rounding out the Top 5.

// RECAP • MEN
The men led off the day with an 8,000m run and Bienenfeld took charge immediately. The senior, who qualified to the NCAA Championships last year as an individual, gapped the field and ran away with the title as he finished the course in 24:10.1 to claim his first collegiate cross country victory and break the tape 11.4 seconds ahead of the next finisher. Running just off his personal best for 8k (23:56.8 at the Louisville Classic last year), Bienenfield's season debut produced his fifth career Top 10 showing in seven collegiate races and bettered his previous best finish of third place from last year's AAC Championships in New Orleans.

Bienenfeld was followed across the line by two teammates in the Top 25 including Ryan Guenthner and freshman Tyler Wirth. Guenthner covered course in 25:18.9 to place 17th overall while Wirth, running his first 8,000m race, was 23rd overall in 25:33.4. Keifer Mosmeier (26:23.1) was 48th overall for the men while Toni Banos (26:46.3) and Ryan Pehlman (26:46.9) rounded out the Bearcats in the race with finishes of 65th and 67th, respectively, in a race featuring 214 finishers.

// ADDING TITLES
With his victory, Bienenfeld not only captured his first collegiate crown, but also gave the Bearcats back-to-back seasons with a race winner. Last year, graduate transfer Andrew Schille opened the year by winning his third-consecutive Queen City Invitational after claiming the first two as a undergraduate student at Northern Kentucky. 

// RECAP • WOMEN
For the third time this season and the second time in as many weeks, the UC women turned in several strong individual performances that combined for a high team finish. Leather led the team for the second time this year as she lowered her 6,000m personal best by 5.2 seconds to finish third overall in 21:30.2 while freshman Maddie Walker, running her first 6,000m race, was sixth overall in 21:41.0. Markel, last week's race winner, was 15th overall in 21:55.3 while freshman Olivia Tyre was 21st in her first 6,000m run at 22:15.3. Katrina Patterson, making her season debut, rounded out the scoring five positions with a time of 22:23.2 to place 25th overall.

Three other women also took part in the race and produced personal-best times as well. Rylee Penn was 34th overall in her first 6,000m run at 22:39.6 while Sydney Hess showed a monster improvement by placing 38th in 22:46.7. Leah Maschino, also running in her first 6,000m event, was 67th in 23:56.8.

// CONSISTENCY IS KEY
So far this year, the women have competed in a trio of meets, including the Queen City Invitation and the Friendship Invitational ahead of today's event. Including the Rhodes meet, the Bearcats have finished in the Top 3 in the team standings all three times, including third at the QCI and winning last week's Friendship meet. To reach those high finishes, the individual runners have consistently been at the front of the race. At the QCI, UC had two finishers in the Top 10 and three in the Top 15. Last week, the Bearcats had the Top 2 individual places (Markel first, Leather second) with the entire Top 7 runners in the Top 20 overall. Today, UC again had two in the Top 10 with all five scorers in the Top 25 for the third meet in a row.

Additionally today, the women not only had all five scorers in the Top 25, but all five finished the race in a close spread of 53 seconds total. Looking at the Top 7 and the team's pack mentality, the spread was 1:16.5.

// GETTING FASTER
Overall, two men and all eight women posted personal-best times on the day with both men and four of those women earning PRs in their first races at a new distance. Hess led the way for all Bearcats on the day as she her time of 22:46.7 is an improvement of 1:15.3 over her previous best of 23:53.0 that she ran last year at the Bradley Pink Classic. That same meet produced the former PRs of three other runners in today's race as Markel took 20.8 seconds off her previous best (21:55.3 from 22:16.1) and Patterson lowered her time by 6.9 seconds (22:23.2 from 22:30.1). Leather also posted a PR of 5.2 seconds, lowering her time to 21:30.2 from the 21:35.4 she ran last year for Fresno State at the Santa Clara Invitational. So far this year, Leather is 3-for-3 in recording a personal-best time on the course.

// NEXT MEET
Following one week off from competition, the Bearcats will return to action Saturday, October 5, at the Live in Lou Cross Country Classic at E.P. 'Tom' Sawyer Park in Louisville. There are three different races for the men and women with the start time and assigned race for the Bearcats being announced closer to the competition.

2019 Rhodes College Invitational
Shelby Farms Course • Memphis, Tenn.
Race #1 • Team Results • Men's 8,000m
1. Tulsa [DI #30] • 20
2. Memphis • 63
3. Arkansas State • 109
4. Emory [D3 #29] • 117
5. CINCINNATI • 138
6. Oglethorpe • 210
7. Rhodes • 236
8. Mississippi College • 240
21 teams scored

Individual Results • Men's 8,000m
1. Aaron Bienenfeld • 24:10.1
17. Ryan Guenthner • 25:18.9
23. Tyler Wirth • 25:33.4 • PR
48. Keifer Mosmeier • 26:23.1
65. Toni Banos • 26:46.3
67. Ryan Pehlman • 26:46.9 • PR
214 runners finished

Race #2 • Team Results • Women's 6,000m
1. Tulsa • 21
2. CINCINNATI • 67
3. Memphis • 72
4. Arkansas State • 107
5. Centre [D3 #28] • 188
6. Emory [D3 #24] • 196
7. Union (Tenn.) • 200
8. Mississippi College • 230
21 teams scored

Individual Results • Women's 6,000m
3. Ellie Leather • 21:30.2 • PR
6. Maddie Walker • 21:41.0 • PR
15. Hannah Markel • 21:55.3 • PR
21. Olivia Tyre • 22:15.3 • PR
25. Katrina Patterson • 22:23.2 • PR
34. Rylee Penn • 22:39.6 • PR
38. Sydney Hess • 22:46.7 • PR
67. Leah Maschino • 23:56.8 • PR
182 runners finished