Cross Country Set for American Athletic Conference Championships

TULSA, Okla. — The University of Tulsa men's and women's cross country teams are back in action on Saturday, Oct. 28, at the American Athletic Conference Championships, which will be held at Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia, Pa. The men's team will be in search of its eighth consecutive conference title, while the women's squad will be looking for its fourth title in the last five seasons.

The men will run an 8K race at 9 a.m. CT followed by the women's 6K run at 9:50 a.m. CT and both races will be streamed live on the American Digital Network.

The Golden Hurricane men's squad has won all three American Championships since joining the league in 2014 after claiming Conference USA Championships in 2010-13. The women's team had a run of three consecutive championships (2013-15) snapped last season with a second-place finish.

"We just need to be consistent and control what we can control," head coach Steve Gulley said. "I think the conference is a lot better from top to bottom. In the past, I think we had a more dominant team, but I don't think that's the case this year. That might be better though, because I don't think we are taking anything for granted."

Both teams will enter the meet ranked No. 6 in the latest Midwest Region Poll by the USTFCCCA. On the men's side, ECU (No. 14 Southeast), Houston (No. 6 South Central) Temple (No. 8, Mid-Atlantic), Tulane (No. 14, South Central), UConn (No. 10, Northeast) and Wichita State (No. 15, Midwest) also appear in the regional rankings. Meanwhile, SMU (No. 4, South Central), Temple (No. 12, Mid-Atlantic), Tulane (No. 10, South Central) and UConn (No. 8, Northeast) also received regional rankings on the women's side.

The Hurricane last ran at the Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational on Oct. 13 as part of a loaded field. The men's 8K race featured 20 teams ranked in the USTFCCCA Top 25, while the women's 6K had 14 of the 33 teams ranked.

Senior Ben Preisner led the men with a time of 24:32.1 to place 73rd, trimming eight seconds off his time at the Cowboy Jamboree in late September. Freshman Scott Beattie made his debut and finished second on the squad at 24:56.2.

Meanwhile, TU's top four finishers in the women's race all set personal bests, led by sophomore Adrena Mazzei's time of 21:02.6.

Cross Country Set for American Athletic Conference Championships

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Scott Beattie

Adrena Mazzei

Ben Preisner

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