GREENVILLE, N.C. – Wichita State cross country is set to compete in its seventh American Athletic Conference Championship Saturday morning at Overton's Lake Kristi in Greenville, N.C.
 
The men's team will race an 8K at 8:15 a.m. CT, followed by the women's 6K at 9 a.m. CT. Fans can find a live stream on ESPN+ or can follow along with the live results.

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AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Saturday, Oct. 28
Greenville, N.C. | Overton's Lake Kristi
Men's 8K: 8:15 a.m. CT | Women's 6K: 9 a.m.
ESPN+ | Live Results

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The Shockers return three all-conference athletes from a year ago to their 2023 roster, including Sarah Bertry, Adrian Diaz Lopez and Trey Rios. A season ago, the Shocker men claimed their second-straight second-place team finish, while the women improved from sixth place in 2021 to fifth place in 2022. The Tulsa men won their ninth-consecutive AAC team title, and the Golden Hurricane women made it four-straight championships on their side.
 
SMU looks to dethrone the Tulsa women, while Charlotte and Tulane stand to challenge the Tulsa men. Wichita State seeks a top-four or top-five finish for both the men and women in this new-look conference. The Shocker women have placed in the top five in every race this season and look to carry that into the championship meet.
 
With the added depth of the six new AAC teams, breaking into the top-15 individual places will provide an even tougher challenge than in past seasons, but head coach Kirk Hunter anticipates a handful of Shockers landing on the all-conference list.
 
"Right now, Trey [Rios], Jackson [Caldwell] and Adam [Rzentkowski] have consistently been three of the top guys that are up there, but I wouldn't count out Zander [Cobb} as our best guys to have to chance to [finish in the top 15]," Hunter said. "It's a deeper conference, though, so the top 15 is going to be harder than last year."
 
For the last two years, Wichita State men have earned four of the 15 all-conference positions.
 
For the Shocker women, Lucy Ndungu and Miranda Dick have been racing well and should have a strong chance at a top-10 or top-15 finish, while Lubna Aldulaimi has also shown vast improvement throughout the past year.
 
"Lucy's goal is to win; I don't think she has any other goal in her mind," Hunter said. "Miranda is running spectacularly right now. She's been beating some really good athletes out there, so I'm confident that if she does what she's been doing all year she'll be top 10 at conference."
 
A win for Ndungu would mark the fifth AAC individual title for Wichita State cross country in the seven years the Shockers have been in The American. The junior transfer from Cloud Country Community College has made a splash in her first season with the Shockers, finishing in the top three in all three regular-season meets, running personal bests in each race.
 
She will be up against SMU's top five runners, who have all run sub-21 minutes, three Tulane athletes who have gone sub-21 and Tulsa's reigning champion, Chloe Hershenow, and Alicen Ashley.
 
In one of Jackson Caldwell's final collegiate races, Hunter recognizes the impact the senior has had on the course for the Shockers.
 
"I've been proud of the way he's operated every second he's been here, being a transfer coming in from Baker and then excelling to the level that he has since he's been here," Hunter said. "He didn't have a great year last year at the end of the year because he got Mono and was racing with that, but he's proven that he's a high-level athlete and deserves to be one of the guys we're talking about."
 
Wichita State faces the challenge of running against teams who's track and field teams are distance dominated, such as Tulsa, Tulane and SMU. The Shockers have a much smaller roster size with just 13 female and 16 male cross country athletes, compared to Tulsa's 15 women and 23 men, Tulane's 19 women and 22 men, SMU's 15 women and Charlotte's 28 women and 22 men.
 
"I've felt like I've always been in the category of team that didn't have the distance roster size as other teams because of my philosophy as a coach, and that's to have a well-rounded well-balanced team, and I would take this type of team any day and go to battle with them," Hunter said.

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MEN'S ENTRIES (will be finalized on meet day)
Jackson Caldwell
Zander Cobb
Adrian Diaz Lopez
Erik Enriquez
Jacob Meyers
Cesar Ramirez
Aidan Reyna
Trey Rios
Adam Rzentkowski
Riley Vandaveer
Iestyn Williams

WOMEN'S ENTRIES (will be finalized on meet day)
Lubna Aldulaimi
Sarah Bertry
Miranda Dick
Isabelle Hartnett
Lea Jerkovic
Aracely Martinez
Farrah Miller
Jenna Muma
Lucy Ndungu
Audrey Parson
Peyton Pogge