Men's, Women's Cross Country Place Second Saturday

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Memphis senior Arnica Zitting and sophomore Matthew Kamph paced the Tigers men's and women's cross country squads to second-place finishes at the 2017 Rhodes College Invitational Saturday.

The Tigers women's team placed second with 59 points and was edged out by Arkansas State with 50 points. On the men's side, Memphis (87 points) finished runner-up to host Rhodes College (30).

Zitting won the women's 5k individual crown Saturday, placing first in a time of 18:13.8. For the second-straight race this season, Kamph was the highest men's finisher, coming in third.

The Rhodes College Invitational was held at Shelby Farms.

Tigers Tidbits/Rhodes College Invitational Highlights
Women's Team

The women's second-place performance was the sixth-straight season the Tigers had a top-three finish at the Rhodes College Invitational. The Memphis women won titles in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016 in that six-year stretch.
Senior Arnica Zitting won the women's individual title. It is her second crown of 2017, as she took the season-opening Brooks Twilight Classic Sept. 2.
Zitting is the first Tigers women's performer to win two races in the same season since Arielle Frileux did so in 1997. Frileaux won the Plough Park and Missouri State races in 1997.
Saturday's first-place finish was Zitting's second top-five performance as a Tiger at the event. She placed fourth in last year's Rhodes College Invitational. For her career, Saturday was her fourth-straight top-10 finish in the race. As a freshman and sophomore at Arkansas State, Zitting was ninth in 2014 and sixth in 2015.
Senior Megan Briley posted her second top-20 finish in the Rhodes College Invitational for her career. She placed 14^th in 2014 when the women's race was a 6k event. Briley improved her time by over 50 seconds from last year's Rhodes College Invitational.
Sophomore Paige Sandwell placed 10^th Saturday and improved her finish from last year's event by six spots. She also ran the course just under 10 seconds faster than she did a season ago.
Senior Mary Betsy Minkler and sophomore Gabrielle Byndas both secured top-20 performances in the Rhodes College Invitational for a second-straight year. Minkler and Byndas were 13^th and 14^th, respectively, in last season's event. Saturday was Minkler's first race of 2017 as she did not run in the season-opening Brooks Twilight Classic Sept. 2.

Men's Team

The men's second-place performance was the sixth-straight season the Tigers had a top-three finish at the Rhodes College Invitational. The Memphis men won titles in 2012, 2013 and 2016 in that six-year stretch.
Sophomore Matthew Kamph was the Tigers men's top finisher, coming in third in a time of 25.54.5. His time was just under 11 seconds behind the men's 8k champion.
Kamph's 25:54.5 was a personal-best by nearly 16 seconds. His previous 8k best was 26:10.4 at last year's American Athletic Conference Championships.
Kamph improved his finish at the Rhodes College Invitational by over 25 spots from his 2016 performance. He placed 32^nd in the 2016 race.
Junior Matthew Viveiros logged his second-straight, top-10 performance in the Rhodes College Invitational, placing eighth Saturday. Last year, he was third.
Senior James Durkin improved his finish at the Rhodes College Invitational for the fourth year in a row. He also finished in the top-20 for the fourth-consecutive year. Durkin placed 12^th Saturday. He was 19^th in 2014, 16^th in 2015 and 13^th in 2016.
Junior LaForrest Church improved his finish from last year's Rhodes College Invitational by over 30 spots. He placed 19^th Saturday and was 51^st last year. Church also improved his time in the race by 19 seconds.
Sophomore Joshua Hamlet ran a personal-best 28:04.5 Saturday. It bested his previous 8k top time by nearly 19 seconds and his time at last season's Rhodes College Invitational by 47 seconds.
Hamlet finished 44^th overall Saturday, improving his performance by 50 positions from last year's Rhodes College Invitational.

2017 Rhodes College Invitational (top 5 finishes count in team score)

Women's Race (5k); Memphis Team Finish: 2^nd (59 points)

Place	Name	Time
1	Arnica Zitting	18:13.8
10	Paige Sandwell	19:15.5
12	Megan Briley	19:22.9
16	Mary Betsy Minkler	19:38.6
20	Gabrielle Byndas	19:43.8
26	Lauren Wheeler	19:52.3
29	Kristen Adams	19:55.4

Men's Race (8k); Memphis Team Finish: 2^nd (87 points)

Place	Name	Time
3	Matthew Kamph	25.54.5
8	Matthew Viveiros	26:27.5
12	James Durkin	26:45.1
19	LaForrest Church	27:15.1
45	Joshua Hamlet	28:04.5
48	Brock Ballard	28:18.5
118	Hunter Magno Hester	34:23.1

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Players Mentioned

Kristen Adams

Gabrielle Byndas

Joshua Hamlet

Matthew Kamph

Paige Sandwell

Matthew Viveiros

University of Memphis Athletics