2018-19 Shocker Women XC and Track & Field

[1972Shocker]

From Coach John Wise, Assistant Director of Track & Field

*AMERICAN CONFERENCE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS THIS WEEK!!!*

It’s championship week for the cross country team as they will travel to New Orleans, Louisiana, for the American Conference Championships on Thursday. The meet looks pretty wide open on both the men’s and women’s sides. WSU will be looking to improve upon last year’s 5th (men) and 6th (women) places finishes.

Coach Hunter has been trying to do his best to figure out how the meet stacks up and any way it’s analyzed it appears to be a battle. On the women’s side the top teams appear to be Wichita State, Temple, SMU, East Carolina, Tulsa and Connecticut. Any of those six teams should feel like they have a team capable of winning.

Trying to compare different cross country courses throughout the Fall is pretty much impossible so it will all depend on how the teams run Thursday. It will definitely be an exciting championship!

All the meet info including a link to live video can be found on the championship central home page here … http://theamerican.org/sports/2018/9...l.aspx?id=341&

[1972Shocker]

Last year the only AAC Championships the Shockers won was Volleyball. This year the Women;s XC team my have about as good a shot as any of the Shocker teams to capture a Championship but it will be anything but easy.

[1972Shocker]

Shockers Prepare for Conference Championships - Thursday, October 25th in New Orleans

Competing on the women's side include Destini Eskridge, Halle Johnson, Winnie Kibet, Winny Koskei, Amber Reed, Rita Schnacker, Rebekah Topham, Tangy Wiseman and Yazmine Wright. Suzie Garcia will run as an alternate.

Women's Preview

The Field
The women's race will welcome back 11 all-conference runners from the 2017 championship race, including individual champion Hannah Miller of SMU. Miller will look to become the first female athlete to win consecutive cross country titles in The American. The Mustangs enter the race with the highest regional ranking, coming in at No. 3 in the South Central Region.

UConn won the 2017 team title with 34 points, including five all-conference runners and three in the top five. The Huskies return all-conference runners Mia Nahom, Haley Hasty, Courtney Akerley and Danielle Jordan. UConn has placed in the top-15 in all four races during the regular season, including the season opener Minuteman Invitational.

Houston, Temple and Tulsa each enter the race with regional rankings, Temple at No. 7 in the Mid-Atlantic, Tulsa No. 11 in the Midwest and Houston at No. 14 in the South Central.

The Shockers
Wichita State has been led by Rebekah Topham and Winny Koskei, the duo has taken turns as the top finisher on the team. Topham, a redshirt junior, became the first athlete, male or female, to win four consecutive J.K. Gold titles. Koskei has paced the Shockers the last two outings at the 30th Annual Chile Pepper Invitational and Wisconsin Pre-Nationals. The women have three top-20 finishes, including a team title at the J.K. Gold Classic and a second place finish at the 30th Annual Chile Pepper Invitational.

The Shockers top 5 times fromt the Pre-Nationals 6K in Madison, Wisconsin on October 13th were:
So. Winny Koskei - 20.28.9
Jr. Rebekah Topham - 21:00.2
So. Yazmine Wright - 21:57.1
So. Rita Schnacker - 22:23.8
Jr. - Winnie Kibet -22:25.4

Plugging these times into last year's AAC Championships resutls would have had the Shockers finishing 2nd. Of course, times from one XC course to the other are not really very compariable.

The big issue tomorrow in New Orleans may be the weather. There is a 65%-70% chance of rain beginning at midnight and running through 6:00 am tomorrow morning and then that increases to a 75% - 100% chance of Thunderstorms beginning at 7:00 am tomorrow and running to around 3:00 pm. Obviously, if there is lightning around they won't be running as scheduled. In any case, it sounds like a soft, perhaps muddy course will be in play with very high humidity.

While WSU Coach Kirk Hunter described the course as mostly flat, the potential of rain could make it more difficult.

The Shockers enter the race No. 12 in the Midwest regional rankings, the highest ranking the team has seen during the 2018 season.

Last year Koskei led the Shockers to a sixth place team finish and placed 18th overall individually.

Looks like it will be a very competitive race with a handful of teams being in the mix. The Shocks will need near the top finishes from Rebekah and Winny plus 3 very solid perfourmances from Yazmine, Rita and Winnie.

:poster_shocks:

[1972Shocker]

RH: Koskei, Topham's Relationship Fuels Competitiveness

Wichita State competes in their second American Athletic Conference meet on Thursday and the best runners for the black and yellow (Rebekah Topham and Winny Koskei) have one goal in mind: finish first and second together.

The Shockers are looking for their first athletes to obtain all-conference honors, with no runners on either side finishing in the top-15 last season.

Taylor Eldridge: Here’s what this WSU cross country runner has to do to win AAC title

Wichita State distance runner Winny Koskei has taken on a champion before and won and the sophomore will attempt to do so again on Thursday at the American Athletic Conference Championships in New Orleans.

After Koskei beat out SMU’s Hannah Miller in May on the track to claim the 5,000- and 10,000-meter titles at the AAC Outdoor Championships, the two will once again duel in the women’s 6-kilometer race on Thursday morning to decide the cross country champion.

Miller, the defending champion, ran almost a full minute faster than Koskei at this race one year ago. But as WSU cross country coach Kirk Hunter points out, Koskei has been a different runner since becoming a two-time conference champion on the track.

[1972Shocker]

After about a 40 minute weather delay the women were able to get their race. Winny Wins! and Rebekah finishes 3rd.

I haven't seen the team scores yet. Winny is now a 3-time AAC Champion. Addinjg this win to her 5K and 10K wins last spring in the AAC Outdoor Championships.

https://twitter.com/AmericanXCTrack/...67165426450432

In the post race interview Rebekah said it was the muddiest course she has ever run on.

[WuDrWu]

The XCountry WSU twitter feed says WSU are the champions. Well done!

[1972Shocker]

The XCountry WSU twitter feed says WSU are the champions. Well done!

Wichita St T&F/XC @GoShockersTFXC

It’s official - Wichita State is your 2018 American Conference Women’s Cross Country Champions!!!

Well done indeed. Conratulations Ladies.

[1972Shocker]

Coach Kirk Hunter being interviewed on the live stream.

Said the Shocks only one by a couple points.

Rebekah has been battling some health issues and he would love to see what she can do if 100%

Coach Hunter said the rain probably helped them because it kind of muted the high humidity.

Great interview by Coach Hunter.

https://twitter.com/AmericanXCTrack/status/1055480567746060288

[1972Shocker]

From left to right: WSU Director of Track & Field Steve Rainbolt, 99 Halle Johnson, 97 Destini Eskridge, 102 Amber Reed, 105 Rebekah Topham, 107 Yazmine Wright, 106 Tangy Wiseman, 100 Winnie Kibet, 101 Winny Koskei and 103 Rita Schnacker (top 5 Shocker finishers in bold).

[1972Shocker]

Team Scores:
1 Wichita State 00:23:00.02 63
2 Tulsa 00:23:16.17 65
3 Temple 00:23:17.78 67
4 SMU 00:23:16.66 88
5 Connecticut 00:23:27.79 89
6 ECU 00:24:07.52 162
7 Houston 00:24:28.25 197
8 Cincinnati 00:24:46.32 225
9 UCF 00:25:41.15 292
10 Memphis 00:25:49.53 301
11 Tulane 00:26:06.65 303
12 USF 00:26:12.79 334

That is about as tight of a finish at the top as you will ever see in a XC race.

Here is how the Shockers top 5 finished:

1 Winny Koskei 00:21:51.96
3 Rebekah Topham 00:22:16.50
15 Winnie Kibet 00:23:28.09
18 Yazmine Wright 00:23:32.89
26 Rita Schnacker 00:23:50.66 26

Top 15 = All-Conferencre

More good news -- there are no seniors in this group. 2 juniors and 3 sophomores. Rebekah not at 100%. This ladies should only be better next year if they can stay healthy. However, Tulsa only had 1 senior in their top 5 and Temple, like the Shocks, had no seniors in their top 5. So defending their title next year will not be a slam dunk for the Shocks.

http://theamerican.org/documents/201...ts.pdf?id=1940

[1972Shocker]

Awards ceremony coming up on the Live Stream.

https://www.facebook.com/AmericanDig...5016715714193/

[1972Shocker]

WSU women’s cross country team wins team and individual AAC championships

BY TAYLOR ELDRIDGE

https://www.kansas.com/sports/colleg...220602995.html

The start of a special day began when Winny Koskei conquered wet and soggy conditions in New Orleans on Thursday morning to win the individual women’s cross country title at the American Athletic Conference Championships.

Rebekah Topham followed closely to give Wichita State two runners in the top three, then Winnie Kibet and Yazmine Wright kept pace with a pack of runners through the finish line. Finally, Rita Schnacker came striding through and held off four runners to secure a 26th-place finish.

No one knew the importance of what the Shockers had just accomplished until the scores were tallied up and it was revealed the WSU women’s team had stunned the rest of the conference by winning the AAC team title with 63 points, two ahead of Tulsa and four ahead of Temple.

Stunned because WSU was not highly regarded entering the race (ranked No. 12 in the Midwest region) and the AAC featured three teams rated higher than the Shockers, including a SMU squad that was billed as the No. 3 team in the South Central region.

[1972Shocker]

Moved.

[1972Shocker]

Here is a replay of the coverage of the Women's race if anyone is interested:

Found it interesting that other than Winny Koskei they talked very little about Wichta State as in contention for the team title. It was UConn, SMU, Tulsa and Temple. The Shockers were clearly an afterthought their win was pretty much a surprise.

Although I almost called it.

[ShockTalk]

What a mess. Hope no one got ill due to the weather. Boy, #106 for the Shocks went down in a heap at the finish line. Glad she look OK for the team pic.

[1972Shocker]

Yes, she did. That was Sr. Tangy Wiseman a transfer from Iowa Central CC. Tangy has never been a prime time player at Wichita State but that doesn't mean she hasn't given her all. She has. These kid's like Tangy, and there are and have been many like her, that don't get much, if anything, in the way of athletic scholarships who still work as hard as they do even though they are rarely in the limelight is something that really makes Wichita State Track & Field special IMHO.

Of course, Tangy wasn't the only runner that collapsed at the finish. Running in that slop no doubt takes a toll and sucks the energy out of you. Plus I think Tangy is probalby more of a middle distance runner. Otherwise, they probably had fund playing in the rain.

Not a lot of sports with less visibility than XC but these athletes are tough.

[1972Shocker]

Looks like it will be a very competitive race with a handful of teams being in the mix. The Shocks will need near the top finishes from Rebekah and Winny plus 3 very solid perfourmances from Yazmine, Rita and Winnie.

I love these young ladies. Not only are they outstanding Movers, Shakers, Doers and Shockers but it is exceedingly difficult to make it look like I know what I am talking about and yet these young ladies even managed to do that.

[1972Shocker]

GoShockers.com Report

"Winny looks incredible right now and that race did not look difficult for her at all," said head cross country coach Kirk Hunter "I think Koskei is poised to run even better than she did today. For her to run that fast, in the mud and those conditions is extremely impressive and I'm proud of her."

Wichita State women won the team title with 63 points, two points ahead of second place Tulsa. The Shockers placed four athletes in the top-20 including three in the top 15. Rebekah Topham was the second Shocker across the finish line in third place with a time of 22:16.50. Winnie Kibet followed in 15th (23:28.09), Yazmine Wright in 18th (23:32.89) and Rita Schnacker rounded out the scoring in 26th place (23:50.66). Koskei, Topham and Kibet earned all-conference honors, bringing the women's program total to 67 honors.

"I told the girls before the race if you get in the top 20 we have a chance to win it, even if our fifth girl is in the top 25 we might be able to win it," said Hunter "In the end Rita Schnacker finished 26th and that made it close."

And they're off: 100 Winnie Kibet, 101 Winny Koskei, 106 Tangy Wiseman, 105 Rebeka Topham, 107 Yazmine Wright, 99 Halle Johnson, 97 Destine Eskridge, 103 Rita Schnacker, 102 Amber Reed