The Basics
            The Shockers kick off postseason action Friday with a trip to Memphis for the American Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships.
            The Shocker women come in as the event's defending champions and Winny Koskei was the individual champion a year ago. Both Koskei and the Shocker women have targets on their backs, but are prepared to fend off challengers.
            Wichita State's women's team has another All-American in Rebekah Topham to complement Koskei at the top. Abeba Sullivan and Yazmine Wright have proven to be solid runners in the third and fourth spots. The fifth and final scoring slot has been a revolving door for the Shockers. Halle Johnson has been fifth for the Shockers twice this season, but Rita Schnacker has shown the prowess to score as well.
            The men finished fourth at this meet a year ago, but bring back all but one of their top seven from last year's conference meet. Ben Flowers has stepped in as a leader for the Shockers, but the other Shocker men have shown the capability to run with Flowers. They'll need a large pack of yellow and black toward the front to take down No. 6 Tulsa.
 
FOLLOW THE MEET
            Fans can follow along on Twitter at @GoShockersTFXC for updates. A recap will be posted to GoShockers.com as well as full PDF results.
            The American is putting on a live stream on Facebook. That stream can be found at https://www.facebook.com/AmericanDigitalNetworkPlus/
            More information, including a live results link, can be found at TheAmerican.org/XC.
 
Meet Schedule
            The men's 8K race kicks off the day at 10 a.m. with the women's race following it at 10:50 a.m. There will also be an awards ceremony at about 11:40 a.m.
 
Last Time Out
            The Shockers took on Pre-Nationals two weeks ago with the chance to see some fierce competition and run in a packed field.
            Winny Koskei was the standout in Terre Haute. She finished seventh overall in a field packed with ranked teams and All-Americans. She ran with the leaders until they broke away, but Koskei took the chase pack home and finished seventh. Coach Hunter said it was her best race as a Shocker,
            Rebekah Topham finished 60th and the women's team finished in 17th place in the team race.
            The men's team came in 30th in the team standings after a tough start was too much to come back from.
 
Coach Hunter on the Meet
On his thoughts going into the weekend
"Well we're excited for the conference meet this week, of course. Getting the chance to go to Memphis and run our two teams down there is something that we've been working for all year, even before the season. We were thinking about it last year during the outdoor track season, You always look forward to what's coming and then you put in the miles and deal with the heat, and then you're there. It feels like we just got here, but were already at the conference meet. I know the guys and girls are looking forward to running out there."
 
On having a great complement to Winny Koskei in Rebekah Topham
"Winny and Rebekah are two people who have shown that when it comes to championship season, they're ready to go. There might be an off day here or there, but they've really stepped it up in the championship season. Everyone has to do their job if we have a chance of being successful."
 
Koskei Keeps Kicking
            Winny Koskei is again leading the way for the Shocker women this season.
            She comes into the week as the defending champion, and looks to repeat as the best women's runner in the conference.
            The All-American has had a stellar season so far with impressive races at the JK Gold Classic, the Bill Dellinger Invitational and at Pre-Nationals.
            In her most recent outing, Koskei ran what Coach Kirk Hunter called "probably her best race in her career here." Koskei finished seventh in a 200+ person field jam packed with ranked teams and All-Americans.
            Koskei came out of JK Gold as the individual champion, dethroning fellow All-American Rebekah Topham. She won the race with a time of 13:48.5. Her performance led the Shocker women to a team victory as well.
            In Oregon at the Bill Dellinger Invitational, Koskei showed she is still a force to be reckoned with on the national stage. She finished the first 6K of the season in 20:14.5 to finish the race in 13th place.
            Koskei has proven she is back and ready to claim another All-America honor.
 
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
            The Shocker men have proven they have the capability to run together all year long.
            Ben Flowers has been the low stick all year, including a victory at the JK Gold Classic, but the Shockers behind him have finished close together.
            At Pre-Nationals, the Shockers had a spread of 48.2, meaning the fifth-fastest runner came in only 48.2 seconds after the Shockers' low stick crossed the line. At the Bill Dellinger Invitational, the Shockers' spread came in at 50 seconds.
            Coach Kirk Hunter has said the Shocker men can run with each other, which has proven to be true, but they will need to run together near the front of the field in Memphis to take down sixth-ranked Tulsa.
 
Return of the Champs
            The defending champions of women's AAC cross country are back and ready to defend their crown.
            The Shockers bring back five of their top six from last year's conference-winning squad. Winny Koskei, Rebekah Topham, Yazmine Wright, Rita Schnacker and Halle Johnson all come back to help defend the conference title the Shockers won in 2018.
            Koskei and Topham have proven to be one of the country's best one-two punches. Topham is fresh off an All-American finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in June.
            The Shockers also added a JUCO transfer in Abeba Sullivan. Sullivan has scored in both meets she has run with Wichita State.
            It is going to be a tough task to take away the conference crown form Wichita State.
 
Shockers in the Rankings
            The USTFCCCA Regional Rankings came out Oct. 21, and the Shockers made appearances once again.
            The Shocker men dropped a spot to No. 11 in the Midwest Region. 
            The Shocker women moved up two spots to No. 6 and have been ranked for 13 consecutive weeks, including seven straight in the top 10.