Cross Country Set For Rhodes Invitational

// THE STARTING LINE
The University of Cincinnati cross country program is set to return to action this weekend as the Bearcats will race at the Rhodes College Invitational in Memphis, Tenn., Saturday morning. The meet will serve two purposes for the Bearcats as the not only look to build toward the postseason, but the meet also will give both squads a chance to preview the Shelby Farms course that will be used for the 2019 American Athletic Conference Championships November 1.

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// QUICK SPLITS
• The women are back in action for the second week in a row while the men haven't run in three weeks, last competing at the Queen City Invitational on August 31
• Both teams enter the meet ranked in the USTFCCCA regional rankings with the men at #13 in the Great Lakes and the women at #15
• The rankings mark the first for the women since 2010 they have been ranked regionally and the first time since the final of 2010 that both Bearcats teams have appeared in the same ranking
• The women are coming off a huge weekend at the Friendship Invitational in Cedarville where they won the team title and saw Hannah Markel win the individual title while Ellie Leather was just behind her in second
• The last time UC's women won a title was the 2010 Queen City Invitational and the last individual victory was Alison Zukowski at the 2011 VMI Relays
• At the Friendship, three big PRs were recorded with Markel (32.2 seconds), Leather (26.6) and Sydney Hess (23.8) all dropping their 5,000m bests
• Two redshirt freshmen ran their first cross country races for the Bearcats, including Rylee Penn and Leah Maschino

// THE COMPETITION
This week's meet is set to feature 21 teams from all across the NCAA divisions, including a trio of AAC teams in Cincinnati, Memphis and Tulsa. The remainder of the field includes: Arkansas-Monticello, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Arkansas State, Berry, Centre, Christian Brothers, Concordia (Texas), East Texas Baptist, Emory, Hendrix, Millsaps, Mississippi College, Mississippi University for Women, Oglethorpe, Rhodes, Southeastern Oklahoma State, Union and University of the Ozarks.

// THE MEET
The Rhodes Invitational features two races. The men will lead things off with an 8,000m run at 8 a.m. local (9 a.m. ET) with the women's 6,000m run following at 8:45 a.m. local (9:45 a.m. ET).

// RESULTS
Results for this week's meet can be found at Rhodes.MacDonaldTiming.com. 

// RANKED
According to the latest rankings released by the USTFCCCA, four teams entered in the meet are nationally ranked in their respective divisions. On the men's side, Tulsa is #30 this week in NCAA Division I while Emory is #29 in NCAA Division III. On the women's side, both nationally ranked teams come from NCAA Division III with Emory at #24 and Centre at #28.

// MORE RANKINGS
In the same rankings released, the Bearcats found their names listed in the men's and women's Great Lakes Top 15 this week, holding rankings of #13 and #15, respectively. The men moved up one spot from the #14 position they held in the preseason standings while the women earned not only their first ranking of the season, but also their first ranking since the end of the 2010 campaign. That week also marked the last time both the men and women for UC were ranked at the same time.

// PREVIOUSLY AT RHODES
This week's competition will mark the first time the Bearcats have raced at the Rhodes Invitational.

// LAST TIME OUT • FRIENDSHIP INVITATIONAL
Last weekend, the UC women ventured to Cedarville, Ohio, for the 29th Friendship Invitational and returned home with two wins and several more outstanding performances. As a team, the Bearcats placed two runners in the Top 2, three in the Top 10, all five scorers in the Top 16 and its entire Top 7 in the Top 20 overall. Markel and Leather finished 1-2 with Markel collecting her first collegiate win in 17:32.5 while Leather was just behind her in 17:38.1 as both women not only broke 18 minutes for the first time, but smashed the standard. True freshman Maddie Walker (18:16.6) and redshirt freshman Ryle Penn (18:47.4) placed seventh and 14th, respectively, with Sydney Hess (18:51.5) closing out the scoring five in 16th. Overall, UC accumulated 40 points in the win with Cedarville in second with 60 and Northern Kentucky third with 96.

// 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).

// CLOSE SPREAD
Not only did the women have to front-runners to lead the way as just 5.6 second separated the duo, but the rest of the running spread was close as well. The Top 5 Bearcats that made up the team's score finished within 1:17.0 of one another while the team's Top 7 was 1:35.2 a part.

// HUGE IMPROVEMENTS
Three of the women posted huge PRs on the day with Markel leading the way. The senior posted a time a 17:32.5, which dropped her life-time best by 32.2 seconds after she ran a best of 18:04.7 in high school. Leather, who ran 18:04.7 at the Queen City Invitational two weeks prior, lowered her time by 26.6 seconds to 17:38.1. The third PR posted came from Sydney Hess, who ran 23.8 seconds faster with a time of 18:51.5. Her previous best, like Leather, came at the QCI two weeks ago when she ran 19:15.3.

// 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.

PREVIOUSLY NOTED
// 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 transfter 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
Following one week off from competition, the Bearcats will return to action in Louisville as both teams will take part in the Live in Lou Cross Country Classic Saturday, October 5, at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park. There are three different races for the men's 8,000m (gold, blue and silver) and three for the women's 5,000m (gold, blue and silver) with the Bearcats finding out which race they are assigned closer to the meet. The first race of the day will be 9:30 a.m. and the last collegiate race at 12:45 p.m.