Cross Country Runs In AAC Championships Friday

Friday, November 1

Memphis, Tenn.

10 am CT

University of Memphis

American Athletic Conference Championships (M: 8k/W: 6k)

Gabrielle Byndas, 2019 Women's Cross Country

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Nov 01, 2019 | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Gleason leads the way with top-10 finish, earns all-league honors.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Memphis' Payton Gleason posted a top-10 finish and paced the University of Memphis cross country effort at the 2019 American Athletic Conference Championships Friday morning.

Memphis hosted the league's championships event at Shelby Farms Park in east Memphis.

Gleason placed ninth overall and earned All-American Athletic Conference honors. He is only the fourth men's team performer to earn All-American Athletic Conference accolades since Memphis joined the league in 2013.

On the women's side, freshman Brooke Mussche was the first Tiger to cross the finish line in 29^thplace.

The Tigers men's and women's squads both placed seventh in the team standings.

Up Next
Memphis is off from competition next weekend, but returns to action Nov. 15 when the Tigers travel to Tallahassee, Fla., to run in the NCAA South Region Championships.

Tigers Tidbits

Payton Gleason posted the highest finish by a Tigers men's runner since 2013 when James Maglasang placed third.
Payton Gleason is one of three Tigers men's runners to have a top-10 finish at a conference championships race in the 21^stcentury (since 2000). Mate Nemeth (1^st/2004) and James Maglasang (3^rd/2013) are the other two top-10 Tigers finishers.
The three upperclassmen on the women's side – Gabrielle Byndas, Solstice Saliba and Paige Sandwell – all improved their times from the 2018 American Athletic Conference Championships. All three improved their times by more than three minutes from a year ago.
The trio also improved their finishes from last year. Gabrielle Byndas slid up the chart 24 spots in 36^thplace Friday (finished 60^thlast year). Paige Sandwell improved her finish by nine (61^stto 52^nd), and Solstice Saliba by 36 (97^thto 61^st).
Gabrielle Byndas improved her finish in the conference championships for a fourth-straight year. As a freshman, she placed 88^thand moved up to 66^thin 2017, 60^thin 2018 and 36^thon Friday.
The four upperclassmen on the men's team – Christian Corsello, Payton Gleason and Tate and Zachary Wyatt – all improved their times from the 2018 championships by more than three minutes.
Three of the returning Tigers men's runners also improved on their finishes from a year ago. Christian Corsello made the biggest jump from 83^rdin 2018 to 40^thon Friday. Payton Gleason slid up 27 spots (36^thto 9^th), and Zachary Wyatt 14 spots (35^thto 21^st).
Solstice Saliba and Chloe Figgins both ran 6k personal-bests Friday.

Men's Results/Team Finish: 7^th(169 points)

Finish	Runner	Time
9.	Payton Gleason*	24:28
21.	Zachary Wyatt*	24:56
40.	Christian Corsello*	25:52
44.	Tate Wyatt*	26:00
55.	Clay Campbell*	26:31
63.	Jake Hollinger	26:55
64.	Bradley Turner	26:59

*top-5 finishers count in team score

Women's Results/Team Finish: 7^th(207 points)

Finish	Runner	Time
29.	Brooke Mussche*	21:48
33.	Chablis Shreffler*	21:58
36.	Gabrielle Byndas*	22:04
52.	Paige Sandwell*	22:25
57.	Brooke Calvo*	22:35
61.	Solstice Saliba	22:47
63.	Chloe Figgins	22:51