MEET INFO
- John Hunt Cross Country Course | Huntsville, Ala.
- Women's 6K, 9 A.M. CT
- Men's 8K, 10 A.M. CT
- Live Results
- Watch
- Championship Central
ABOUT THE TOPS
- WKU competed in the Angel Mounds Invitational in their last regular season meet back on Oct. 17.
- Kinley Kunkel set a new personal best at the meet, claiming 4th place, clocking in at 21:02, 13 seconds faster than her previous 6K PR.
- Brooke Greenwell, Caterina Rossomanno, Kathryn Harris, Sofia Witt, and Tatum Maschhoff all crossed the finish line with a new personal best on Friday.
- Greenwell finished within the top-50, taking 39th with a mark of 22:19.
- Jake Younger led the way for the men on Friday morning, setting a new PR in the 8k and claiming a top-30 finish.
- Younger set a new PR of 24:56 which is over 25 seconds better than his previous PR set at the Southern Showcase earlier in the season.
- Mikie Carnell set a PR on Friday morning, finishing up in 25:12, beating his previous PR set at the Southern Showcase.
- Another freshman in the men's 8k, Sam Herbig, set a PR as well on Friday morning. His time of 25:32 was nearly 46 seconds faster than his previous best set in the Hilltoppers' last meet at the XC Town Twilight.
- In total, nine Hilltoppers set new personal records in the final regular season meet. The women's team had six do so while the men managed three.
QUOTABLE
On the team heading into CUSA Championships, head coach Lee Wood said "I feel like we are hitting our stride just at the right time going into conference! Really excited to go watch them compete! They've trained super hard and I really feel like it's going to pay off well!"
ABOUT THE MEET
- Saturday's championship meet will mark the second time the Hilltoppers have competed at the John Hunt Cross Country Course this season. The Southern Showcase was also held there.
- At the Southern Showcase, the men's team set a total of eight new personal bests. For the women, six Hilltoppers set new personal records at the meet.
- Kinley Kunkel led the women at the Southern Showcase and a freshman, Ryan Hendrix, led the charge for the men.
- WKU is looking to build off a 2024 championship event that was much improved from the year prior. Two Hilltoppers made Third Team All-CUSA at the meet. Mary Dye led the team with a 16th place finish. Kinley Kunkel followed and claimed 20th in the women's 6k race.
- Then freshman, Jake Younger, led the charge for the Hilltoppers in the 8k race, setting a PR of 25:46. He finished up in 35th place.
A LOOK AT THE FIELD
- Last season, Liberty swept both the men's and women's championship races in Oxford, Ala. The season prior the meet was held in Bowling Green.
- In the men's field several teams are ranked in their respective regions. New Mexico State is No. 13 and UTEP is No. 14 in the Mountain Region.
- Middle Tennessee is ranked No. 5, Jax State is No. 12, and Kennesaw State is No. 13 in the South Region.
- Liberty checks in at No. 12 in the Southeast Region.
- In the women's rankings CUSA newcomer checks in at No. 14 in the Mid-Atlantic Region and New Mexico State is ranked No. 15 in the Mountain Region.
- The South Region consists of both Kennesaw State and Jax State at No. 11 and No. 15 respectively.
- Liberty rounds out the ranked teams, holding at No. 5 in the Southeast Region.
Follow the Tops: For complete information on WKU XC and T&F, follow the team on Twitter at WKUXCTF. The team is also on Instagram and Facebook.
