WICHITA – Senior Sarah Bertry recorded the best individual finish of the day for the Shockers, taking 14^th with a 6K time of 21:29.8 at the American Athletic Conference Championships Friday afternoon at Clapp Cross Country Course.
 
Wichita State placed fourth in the men's team competition and sixth in the women's as Tulane ended the Tulsa men's 10-year run on the top of the podium in a tiebreaker win, and the Tulsa women claimed their seventh conference team title. Tulane's Bernard Cheruiyot and Caroline Jeptanui swept the individual titles for the Green Wave.
 
"I was really proud of the way they battled," head coach Kirk Hunter said. "They did a wonderful job, and as far as what we could've done, that's what we had to do."
 
Bertry became the fourth Shocker woman to be named a two-time All-AAC performer in cross country, making it seven-straight championship meets where a Shocker woman has been on the all-conference list.
 
Miranda Dick (27^th; 22:04.0), Jenna Muma (37^th; 22:30.4), Faith Ekart (22:35.6), and Isabelle Hartnett (55^th; 22:55.0) rounded out the top five for the Shockers.
 
"I was impressed with the way Sarah finished the race and the toughness of Miranda and Faith," Hunter said.
 
Redshirt-junior Yared Kidane was the first Shocker across the line in the men's 8K race, finishing 21^st with a time of 25:00.5.
 
"It was the hardest 8K race of my life. The first 2K was strong, but the last 4K, I was dead," Kidane said. "But we did well as a team getting fourth."
 
The Wichita State men have now finished in the top five as a team in all eight AAC Cross Country Championships.
 
Four of the Shockers' top five finished in the top 30 with Adrian Diaz Lopez finishing a few seconds behind Kidane in 23^rd (25:04.6), Cesar Ramirez taking 27^th (25:10.0) and Jonah Allison finishing 28^th (25:12.5). Colin Graham completed the scoring five with a 36^th-place finish (25:22.7).
 
"Our top six men competed at a really tough level today," Hunter said. "They were battling in there."
 
This was the second AAC Cross Country Championship hosted by the Shockers and the first at Clapp Cross Country Course.
 
"Everybody that came out and was cheering helped things go right for us," Hunter said. "Having that motivation helped push us to be more successful."
 
Wichita State will compete at the NCAA Midwest Regional on Friday, Nov. 15 in Peoria, Ill.