CINCINNATI - Aaron Bienenfeld, a senior member of the University of Cincinnati track & field and cross country program, raced for the German U23 National Team Sunday at the 2019 SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Lisbon, Portugal, where he finished 14th individually to help lead his team to the bronze medal. Bienenfeld covered the 8.3k course in 25:02 and was the top German finisher in the race.
"I'm super satisfied, the bronze medal for the team is great," Bienenfeld told the German Federation's website (leichtathletik.de) after the race. "That's like a dream. For me it was better than 2018. The track was, but I'm used to it from mountain running and I also run a lot of hilly tracks in the U.S., so it was not such a big change for me. I did not train for it, but it was also pretty warm. At first, I was in the top 20, that's what I wanted. Then many broke in on the hills and I was able to collect some runners. In the end, I ran together with Markus Görger and Mohamed Mohumed."
Bienenfeld passed the first timing interval (625m) in 35th place before starting his march toward his eventual Top 15 finish. He rose three spots to 32nd at 2,125m before jumping up to 26th at the 3,625m mark. With 5,125m gone, he moved to 20th and then again rose to 16th at 6,625m before finishing the race 14th overall. His finish led a charge of three Germans across the line with Markus Görger and Mohamed Mohumed finishing 15th and 16th, respectively.
In the team standings, the Top 3 finishers from each team counted toward the score with Germany tallying 45 points (14-15-16) to finish third overall and collect the bronze medal, the only medal earned by a German team in the six-competition event in Portugal. France won the team title with 17 points while Italy was second with 29. Great Britain & Northern Ireland were just four points behind Germany with 49 points while Spain was fifth with 50 points.
// SEASON CAPPED
With the European race in the books, so is Bienenfeld's season on the grass. Overall, he raced six times in 2019 with four coming for the Bearcats. During the collegiate season, he went undefeated by winning all four of his races, including the American Athletic Conference Championships and the NCAA Great Lakes Region Championships for the first time. The 2019 AAC and 2019 USTFCCCA Great Lakes Male Runner of the Year, Bienenfeld also won two races in the regular season, including the Rhodes College Invitational and the white race at the NCAA Pre-National Invitational.
A qualifier to the NCAA Championships after winning the regional competition, Bienenfeld declined to compete at the collegiate event so he could instead race at the German Trials the same weekend where he was third overall in the U23 event to qualify for the meet in Portugal. Overall, he was sixth in the German meet (third in age group) and, along with today's result, finished in the Top 15 in all six.
// NEXT MEET
The Bearcats return to action on the track this week with the team heading to Bloomington, Ind., for the 2019 Hoosier Open hosted by Indiana. The meet will take place Friday inside the Gladstein Fieldhouse.
2019 SPAR European XC Championships
Lisbon, Portugal
Race #3 • Team Results • U23 Men's 8,225m
1. France • 17
2. Italy • 29
3. Germany • 45
4. Great Britain • 49
5. Spain • 50
6. Belgium • 54
7. Ireland • 73
8. Czech Republic • 85
9. Sweden • 89
10. Israel • 90
11. Ukraine • 108
12. Norway • 129
13. Portugal • 148
14. Romania • 166
15. Turkey • 177
Bienenfeld Leads German U23 Team to Bronze at Euros
Aaron Bienenfeld, a senior member of the University of Cincinnati track & field and cross country program, raced for the German U23 National Team Sunday at the 2019 SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Lisbon, Portugal, where he finished 14th individually to help lead his team to the bronze medal.
