MEMPHIS—Winny Koskei claimed her second consecutive conference title as the Wichita State men's and women's cross country teams competed at the American Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships on Friday morning.
 
Koskei won this meet a year ago, and she repeated her success this year, finishing in first. She crossed the line in 20:15, which nearly beat her season-best time of 20:14.5 from the Bill Dellinger Invitational.
 
Rebekah Topham finished as the conference runner-up. She outkicked Tulsa's Caitlin Klopfer down the stretch to finish the 6K in 20:29. That time is a new season best for the steeplechase All-American.
 
Coach Kirk Hunter said Koskei and Topham executed their plan to perfection.
 
"We obviously wanted to go 1-2," Hunter said. "They executed it as perfect as they could've. Winny (Koskei) was very dominant. Rebekah (Topham) was in a dog fight with (Caitlin Klopfer) the entire race.
 
"To get first and second individually is kind of crazy, but they did it. I am so proud of them, and they're great leaders for our team."
 
The Shockers' one-two punch led the way to a second-place team finish. The Wichita State women finished with 63 points, which was 26 points behind champion Tulsa.
 
Yazmine Wright earned all-conference honors with a 13th-place finish. She completed the race with a time of 21:03.
 
Halle Johnson showed her steady improvement was no fluke with a 17th-place finish. At last year's conference championship, she finished in 52nd.
 
Abeba Sullivan rounded out the scoring for Wichita State with a 30th-place finish.
 
On the men's side, Ben Flowers stood out, finishing in seventh overall. Flowers earned all-conference honors with a time of 24:18 over 8K. He set a season-best time, narrowly edging out his time from the Bill Dellinger Invitational.
 
"I'm extremely happy for Ben Flowers," Hunter said. "He's my first all-conference (male runner) in this conference. It was a fabulous race for him."
 
Zack Penrod was the next Shocker across the line in 19th. The multi-time conference track champion was just shy of All-AAC honors as he finished with a time of 24:50.
 
Ethan Kossover, Jed Helker and Cory Landon capped the Shockers' top five with 26th-, 31st- and 35th-place finishes.
 
Eight points separated third and fifth in the team race, but the Shockers ended the day in fifth place overall. Wichita State's men's team finished with 118 points.
 
"We don't like losing," Hunter said. "Nobody at Wichita State likes to lose, but we could've done a lot worse. I give the kids credit for doing the best they could.
 
"We just got beat. It's as simple as that."
 
The Midwest Regional is next up for Wichita State Cross Country on Nov. 15. The men's distance moves up to 10K instead of 8K, and there are trips to the NCAA Cross Country Championships on the line.
 
Men's Team Results
1. Tulsa – 20 points
2. Temple – 68 points
3. UConn – 110 points
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5. Wichita State – 118 points
 
Men's Individual Results
7. Ben Flowers* – 24:18
19. Zack Penrod – 24:50
26. Ethan Kossover – 25:11
31. Jed Helker – 25:31
35. Cory Landon – 25:39
37. Josh Klein – 25:45
41. Bryce Merriman – 25:56
 
Women's Team Results
1. Tulsa – 37 points
2. Wichita State – 63 points
3. Temple – 83 points
 
Women's Individual Results
1. Winny Koskei* – 20:15
2. Rebekah Topham* – 20:29
13. Yazmine Wright* – 21:03
17. Halle Johnson – 21:24
30. Abeba Sullivan – 21:53
47. Danielle Rinn – 22:19
59. Hope Saunders – 22:40
 
*Denotes All-Conference Honoree