Cross Country Heads to NCAA Pre-Nationals

// THE STARTING LINE
The University of Cincinnati cross country teams will travel to Terre Haute, Ind., Saturday to compete in the Under Armour NCAA Pre-Nationals meet hosted by Indiana State on the LaVern Gibson Championship Course, the site of next month's NCAA Championships. Both Bearcats teams will run in the 'white' race with the women's 6,000m race scheduled to start at 12:15 p.m. and the men's 'white' 8,000m race slated for 12:50 p.m. The Bearcats also will have individual runners competing in the open races that take place at 1:30 p.m. and 2:05 p.m., respectively.

// FOLLOW US
For up to the minute updates, follow UC Track & Field/Cross Country (@GoBearcatsTFXC) on Twitter, Facebook (GoBearcatsTFXC) and Instagram (GoBearcatsTFXC) and join in the conversation by using the hashtag #Bearcats. This week, fans can also follow @NCAATrackField on Twitter and join the conversation with the hashtag #ncaaXC.

// QUICK SPLITS
• This week's meet is the final meet before championship season gets underway in two weeks with the running of the AAC Championships in Memphis
• The Bearcats are coming off a solid performance from two weeks ago at the Live in Lou Classic in Louisville wither the men were seventh and the women 11th
• Maddie Walker and Christian Stevens led the way for the women and men, respectively, as each finished 38th overall in their races
• Newcomer Lauren Kemper was 51st in her debut for the women while Jonathan Harley (55) and Jase Headings (87) also made their UC cross country debuts for the men
• All told, three women and four men posted personal-best times in the meet

// UPDATES
The meet will be streamed live on FloTrack.com (subscription required). Live results for the meet can be found at PTTiming.com (results: http://pttiming.com/events/87931607) and will be posted on GoBearcats.com following the meet.

// THE MEET
The Under Armour NCAA Pre-Nationals meet is held annually at the site of the NCAA Cross Country Championships, giving teams a chance to square off with some of the best in the nation while also previewing the venue of the national meet later in the season. The meet features six races with the women running 6,000m and the men 8,000m. The day opens with the women's 'blue' race at 11 a.m. and is followed by the men's 'blue' race at 11:35 a.m. The Bearcats will run in the women's and men's 'white' races at 12:15 p.m. and 12:50 p.m., respectively, while also having runners in the women's and men's open races at 1:30 p.m and 2:05 p.m., respectively.

// TEAM COMPOSITION
For this meet, each team can enter up to 12 runners. The Top 7 runners will race in either the white or blue races while runners 8-12 will lineup in the open races to close out the day.

// THAT'S GREAT (LAKES)
According to the latest release of rankings from the USTFCCCA, both Bearcats teams are among the Top 15 in the Great Lakes Region once again this week as the men held steady at #11 and the women rose one spot to #14.

// THE COMPETITION • WOMEN'S WHITE
The Bearcats will go up against runners from 27 other schools in the white race with Indiana the lone team in the national rankings after receiving votes this week in the USTFCCCA Top 30. The teams joining the Bearcats and Hoosiers are: Arizona, Campbell, Dayton, Delaware, Eastern Kentucky, Indiana State, Iona, IUPUI, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisville, Missouri State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Oakland, Ohio, Oklahoma, St. Louis, San Francisco, South Dakota State, Southern Illinois, UC Davis, UTEP, UW-Milwaukee, Western Illinois and Western Michigan.

// THE COMPETITION • MEN'S WHITE
The Bearcats men will be one of 21 teams in the white race and one three ranked in the USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Top 15. UC is ranked #11 in the region and will race against #14 Oakland and #15 Central Michigan. Additionally, the field will include: Arizona, Eastern Kentucky (B), Georgia, Indiana State, IUPUI, Norfolk State, Ohio, Oklahoma, St. Louis, San Francisco, Southern Illinois, Toledo, UC Davis, UW-Milwaukee, Vanderbilt, Wagner, Western Illinois and Xavier.

// PREVIOUSLY AT TERRE HAUTE
The last time the Bearcats raced in the Pre-National meet in Terre Haute was the 2016 season where the men placed third overall and the women 21st as both were part of the 'white' races. Toby Loveridge led the men as he crossed the line 17th overall in 25:17.0 while Dan Huben as also in the Top 25 as he was 22nd in 25:26.7. On the women's side, Juliana Madzia was the top finisher for UC as she placed 32nd overall in 21:58.1 to break 22 minutes for the first time.

// LAST TIME OUT • LIVE IN LOU CLASSIC
The Bearcats raced in Louisville two weeks ago with the women placing 11th in the gold race and the men seventh in the blue race. For the women, freshman Maddie Walker ran a season-best 17:47.2 to place 38th overall while newcomer Lauren Kemper was 51st in a PR 17:58.1 Additionally, Rylee Penn (87th, 18:18.1) and Sydney Hess (131st, 18:40.1) each turned in PRs. On the men's side, Christian Stevens also placed 38th (25:30.2) to lead the way with he and the next three finishers each posting PRs. That trio included Jonathan Harley (55th, 25:41.9), Matt Hoak (66, 25:50.9) and Jase Headings (87th, 26:10.6) with Harley and Headings making their debuts for UC.

// DEBUTS
Nine runners made their Bearcats debuts at the QCI on opening weekend, including eight freshmen and one junior transfer. On the women's side, six newcomers wore the black and red of UC for the first time, including Ellie Leather, a junior transfer from Fresno State. The remaining five newcomers were all freshmen and included Katie Engle, Anna Evans, Carmela Hennings, Olivia Tyre and Maddie Walker. On the men's side, the trio of newcomers all were rookies and included Matt Hoak, Ryan Pehlman and Tyler Wirth. The debut list grew by two more women at the Friendship Invitational as both Rylee Penn and Leah Maschino (both of whom are redshirt freshmen) raced on the cross country course for the first time for UC. Since then, the number has grown by two men and one woman with the trio racing in Louisville. Lauren Kemper, who was racing for the UC Running Club earlier this year, joined the team at the start of October and made her debut at Louisville while Jonathan Harley raced for the first time after running the past two seasons for the Club. Jase Headings raced on the track for UC last year, but made his cross country debut in Louisville.

PREVIOUSLY NOTED
// RACE WINNER
Aaron Bienenfeld captured his first collegiate title by running the 8,000m course in 24:10.1 at the Rhodes Invitational, the same course that will be used for the AAC meet in two weeks, bettering his previous best finish of third at last year's AAC Championships. The time also stands as his second-best collegiate time behind the 23:56.8 that he ran in Louisville last year.

// FEELING HONORED
Following the weekend win, Bienenfeld was selected as the AAC Male Athlete of the Week, earning the weekly accolade for the second time in his career with the first coming after last year's run at Louisville. The award is the third earned by the UC men in the past two years after Andrew Schille earned the honor following his victorious run at the Queen City Invitational that opened the season. Prior to that, no UC runner (male and female) had won a weekly accolade from the American.

// TOP 25
Along with Bienenfeld, two other men finished in the Top 25 of their race with Ryan Guenthner and Tyler Wirth placing 17th and 23rd, respectively. Guenthner raced to a time of 25:18.9 while Wirth, a true freshman, finished his first 8,000m race in 25:33.4.

// RUNNING TOGETHER
Similar to past meets this year, the women continued to run with a pack mentality as they had two in the Top 6, three in the Top 15 and all five of their scoring runners in the Top 25. Ellie Leather led the charge with a third-place showing (21:30.2) with freshman Maddie Walker (23:41.0) just behind her in sixth. The rest of the Top 25 finishers included Hannah Markel (21:55.3) in 15th, freshman Oliva Tyre (22:15.3) in 21st and Katrina Patterson (22:23.2) in 25th overall. Additionally, the Top 5 runners all finished within 53 seconds of one another while the Top 7 ran to a 1:16.5 spread.

// GETTING FASTER
All eight women in the race posted personal-best times, including the four first-timers running the 6,000m distance. Outside of that group, four others posted improvements, led by Sydney Hess, who lowered her time by 1:06.3 on the day. Joining Hess in the PR collection were Markel (20.8), Patterson (6.9) and Leather (5.2).

// TOUGH AS LEATHER
So far this year, Leather has raced three times for the Bearcats and finished in the Top 5 in all three races, including fifth at the Queen City Invitational, second at the Friendship Invitational and third at Rhodes. In each of those races, she also has lowered her PR. In the 5,000m, she entered the season with a best of 18:29.7 from last year with Fresno State that she lowered at Queen City (18:04.7) and then again at Friendship (17:38.1). In the 6,000m, her PR was 21:35.4 run last year with the Bulldogs before she ran 21:30.2 with UC.

// DEUCES WILD
Hess has continually posted improved times this year, as evident by the total accumulation of 2:22.2 in the 6,000m distance. She ran her first 6k at the All-Ohio Championships in 2017 and turned in a time of 25:08.9. Last year, she took 1:15.9 off that time by running 23:53.0 at the Bradley Pink Classic. This year, her first 6k came at Rhodes and saw her take 1:06.3 off her best.

// THE LAST TIME • TEAM VICTORY
The last time the women won a team title came in 2010 when they won the Queen City Invitational at Voice of America MetroPark in West Chester. That day, the Bearcats scored 34 points to edge Xavier (47) and claim the team title. Individually, the Bearcats had four runners in the Top 10 with Michele McKenney winning (18:04.0) and Lilian Jelimo (18:16.0) second. Also in the Top 10 where Alison Zukowski (18:31.0) and Jill Glassmeyer (18:48.0) in fourth and 10th, respectively.

// THE LAST TIME • INDIVIDUAL VICTORY
Markel's win was the first for the women since the 2011 VMI Relays, an event that saw individuals race the 5,000m course and two teammates add their times together for a relay time. Zukowski was the overall individual winner in 17:34.0 and combined with Kaitlyn Meyer for the relay win (36:40.0).

// NEW MEN
This year's newcomers on the men's side include true freshmen Matt Hoak (Mason, Ohio), Ryan Pehlman (Indianapolis) and Tyler Wirth (Hawley, Pa.) and Jonathan Harley (Granger, Ind.), a junior that ran the past two years with the UC Running Club. Additionally, redshirt freshman Jase Headings will be suiting up for the Bearcats in 2019.

// NEW WOMEN
The women, with a roster of 16 individuals, will see more than half as new additions in 2019. The six true freshmen set to race for UC this year include Jen Cooper (Maineville, Ohio), Katie Engle (Chagrin Falls, Ohio), Anna Evans (Mentor, Ohio), Carmela Henning (Medina, Ohio), Olivia Tyre (Troy, Ohio) and Maddie Walker (Batavia, Ohio). Additionally, both Leah Maschino and Rylee Penn will be coming off redshirt seasons this year and will be joined by junior transfer Ellie Leather, who raced at Fresno State the past two years.

// NEW NAME
Over the summer, the former Lara Crofford was wed and is back to coach once again, this time as Lara Rogers. The former standout distance runner at Nebraska and Shippensburg is entering her fifth season working with the UC women's cross country and mid-distance/distance runners on the track.

// NEXT TIME OUT
Championship season will be upon the Bearcats in two weeks as they will travel to Memphis, Tenn., Friday, November 1, for the 2019 AAC Cross Country Championships. The meet will be conducted at the Shelby Farms Course, the same used for the Rhodes Invitational earlier this season. The Top 15 individual finishers in each race will earn all-conference accolades while the Top 2 teams will earn trophies.