Cross Country Preview: The American Championships

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis cross country squads travel to New Orleans, La., to compete in the 2018 American Athletic Conference Championships Thursday.

For the men's program, Thursday's race in New Orleans is the first in the "Big Easy" since the 1981 Metro Conference Championships. On the other side, the women's program, which ran its inaugural season in 1985, is making its race debut in New Orleans.

Both teams are making history Thursday by running in a conference championships event on a Thursday. In their history, the Tigers have run in previous league cross country championships on Sundays, Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays. Last year's championships race was held on a Saturday.

In a decision made Wednesday morning, the start time for the championships has been moved up due to incoming inclement weather in the New Orleans area. The event, originally scheduled for a 10 a.m. (CT) start, now is beginning at 8 a.m. (CT).

American Athletic Conference Championships/New Orleans, La.

Time (CT)	Race	Distance
8 a.m.	Women	6k
8:50 a.m.	Men	8k

Head coach Kevin Robinson comments
"It's going to be interesting with the weather conditions. It's going to be wet. It's going to be a lot of rain. It's going to be a muddy course. We'll see who handles the adverse conditions the best. Hopefully, we can run our races and put ourselves in good positions.

"On the women's side, we're looking for the young performers to step up, run well and compete hard. Hopefully, we put them in positions to run personal-best times and compete at a high level. I'm looking for them to not be consumed by the competition around them, but to focus on their race and compete. I want to dig their heels in and not back down.

"We have a young group on the men's side, but they've performed at a pretty high level throughout the season. The American is a very competitive conference on the men's side, but our group can definitely finish in the top half. And, if they all run well, work together and compete hard, our guys could mix it up and finish in the top four."

Tigers' Finishes In American Athletic Conference Championships

Year	Men	Women
2017	8^th	8^th
2016	6^th	3^rd
2015	9^th	6^th
2014	5^th	7^th
2013	3^rd	7^th

Tigers Tidbits

In the men's last appearance in a conference race in New Orleans in 1981, the Tigers placed fourth in the Metro Conference Championships.
In its history, the men's program has six top-three team finishes. Memphis won the Metro Conference title in 1976 and also had top-three performances in 1977 (3^rd), 1979 (3^rd), 1980 (3^rd), 1985 (3^rd) and 2013 (3^rd).
In 2016, the Tigers women's squad posted its best finish in program history, placing third. Before the 2016 race, the Tigers' top finishes were third-place performances in 1985 and 1986 (both Metro Conference).
Paige Sandwell is the women's highest-returning finisher from the 2017 conference championships. She placed 25^th.
Only three women's runners return that competed in the 2017 conference race. In addition to Sandwell, Kristen Adams and Gabrielle Byndas ran in last season's event.
Kristen Adams is the lone Tiger on either of this year's teams – male or female – to earn All-American Athletic Conference honors. Adams took home all-conference accolades with her 13^th-place performance in the 2014 league race. She ran a 6k personal-best 21:39.0 in the 2014 event.
On the men's side, senior Matthew Viveiros is the top returning performer from last year's American Athletic Conference Championships. Viveiros placed 41^st in a time of 26:44.0.
In addition to Matthew Viveiros, Matthew Kamph and Joshua Hamlet are the only other Tigers men's runners to compete in the 2017 American Athletic Conference Championships.

Up Next
The Tigers get an off-week from competition to prepare for the Nov. 9 NCAA South Region Championships in Tallahassee, Fla.

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Players Mentioned

Kristen Adams

Matthew Kamph

University of Memphis Athletics