Men's Cross Country Wins Brooks Twilight Classic

Saturday, September 1

Memphis, Tenn.

9 pm

University of Memphis

Brooks Twilight Classic (M: 4 miles/W: 5k)

Women's Runner, 2018 Women's Cross Country

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Sep 02, 2018 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Brooks Twilight Classic (Men's Results)Brooks Twilight Classic (Women's Results)

Event was season opener for Tigers men's, women's teams.

COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. – University of Memphis' Matthew Kamph placed second overall and Matthew Viveiros sixth to lead the Tigers men's cross country squad to a first-place finish in the 16^th-annual Brooks Twilight Classic late Saturday night. The women's team placed ninth.

Both races were held at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex.

The championship was the men's program's first in the Brooks Twilight Classic. Memphis has competed in the event every season since 2006. The men's program's previous-best team performances were fourth-place finishes in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Kamph's second-place run tied the best finish by a men's runner in program history at the Brooks Twilight Classic. Daniel Kuhman also placed second in the event in 2013.

Freshman Erin Gilbert was the women's team top finisher, coming in 54^thplace.

Tigers Tidbits

With its team title late Saturday night, the men's squad notched a top-six finish at the Brooks Twilight Classic for the sixth time in the last seven seasons (4^thin 2012, 2013, 2014; 6^thin 2016, 2017; 1^stin 2018).
Saturday night's Brooks Twilight Classic championships makes it three years in a row the men's team has won at least one title. The Memphis men's team won the Austin Peay Cross Country Festival in 2016 and 2017 and also took the Rhodes College Invitational crown in 2016.
Matthew Kamph (2^nd) and Matthew Viveiros (6^th) gave the Memphis men's team two top-10 finishers. It is the first time the Tigers had two top-10 performers at the Brooks Twilight Classic since 2013 when Daniel Kuhman was second and James Maglasang fourth.
Kamph's performance was the second-best of his career. Last season, he won the Austin Peay Cross Country Festival.
With his second-place performance Saturday, Kamph now has five career top-five finishes.
Kamph improved his time and finish from last year's Brooks Twilight Classic. He knocked 37 seconds off his time from a year ago and also improved his finish from 11^thto second.
Viveiros improved his Brooks Twilight Classic time by just over 50 seconds from last year. His finish jumped 18 spots from a year ago (24^thin 2017).
Of the Tigers' 11 men's runners that competed Saturday night, nine made their collegiate debuts.
On the women's side, Erin Gilbert became the first freshman to finish as Memphis' top runner at the Brooks Twilight Classic since Kristen Adams did so in 2014.
Sophomores Ashley Peterson and Hannah Pettigrew ran personal-best 5k times Saturday. Peterson improved her time by nine seconds, and Pettigrew shaved nearly seven seconds off her previous-best time.
Senior Kristen Adams ran in her fourth career Brooks Twilight Classic Saturday.
Junior Paige Sandwell, sophomore Jennifer Taylor and freshman Solstice Saliba all did not run Saturday due to injuries.

Head coach Kevin Robinson comments
"The men's team had a solid start to the season. Matthew Kamph and Matthew Viveiros stepped up and competed well. I was really pleased to see some poise and competitiveness from the freshman group. The Wyatt brothers and Payton ran well in their first collegiate meet. I expect Christian and Lucas to continue to close the gap as well.

"The women's team went into this race banged up and short-handed. We had a couple of solid performances, but there is still work to be done. The runners are aware of the challenge ahead of them, and Saturday night's meet will serve as a significant motivating factor."

2018 Brooks Twilight Classic/Memphis Results (top five finishers count in team score)

Men's Race (4 miles); Memphis Team Finish: 1^st(65 points)

Place	Name	Time
2	Matthew Kamph	20:06.55
6	Matthew Viveiros	20:27.99
15	Tate Wyatt	20:52.01
19	Zachary Wyatt	20:56.56
23	Payton Gleason	20:59.95
55	Christian Corsello	21:59.20
66	Lucas Finton	22:21.48

Women's Race (5k); Memphis Team Finish: 9^th(290 points)

Place	Name	Time
52	Erin Gilbert	19:58.72
54	Hannah Pettigrew	20:03.94
57	Kristen Adams	20:07.38
61	Madi Ray	20:12.88
66	Gabrielle Byndas	20:30.70
87	Ashley Peterson	21:33.44
95	Gabriella Pabst	22:34.77