Cross country excited to be first WSU program to compete at AAC championships

Good luck trying to map out the American Athletic Conference cross country meet.

Wichita State coach Kirk Hunter has been trying to figure out how the Shockers stack up in their new conference, but how do you compare times with schools running in different parts of the country like Houston, Cincinnati, Temple, and South Florida?

“It’s kind of a nightmare,” Hunter said. “It’s really difficult to compare the teams around the conference because we’re so spread out and we all run on such different courses. It’s such an interesting conference, so bringing us all together for one race is going to be really exciting.”

The AAC championships next Saturday in Philadelphia will be the first AAC postseason event for Wichita State.

“We’ve all been saying that we need to start strong for everybody being in the first conference meet,” WSU senior Nathan Wickoren said. “It would be really nice to come out and have a good showing, no matter what the end result may be. We just want to represent Wichita State well.”

Hunter is optimistic about the men’s team.

They started the season strong, attaining a top-10 ranking in the Midwest region, but illnesses have plagued the team since. The men are coming off their shakiest performance of the season last weekend in Peoria, but Hunter says the Shockers will be closer to fully healthy when they run in Philadelphia.

Last week three of WSU’s top runners – Joe Harter, Zack Penrod, and Gage Garcia – were affected by sickness. Hunter thinks the time in between meets will help.

“We just got done with a workout and I thought it went really well,” Hunter said after Friday’s practice. “We’re not 100 percent yet. We’re still getting stuff out of our system, but I thought it looked promising the way they performed as a team.”

Tulsa (ranked No. 6 in Midwest) has been the conference’s elite program over the years. Temple (No. 8 in Mid-Atlantic), Connecticut (No. 10 in Northeast), Houston (No. 6 in South Central), and Tulane (No. 14 in South Central) should also be in the mix.

But if Wichita State runs near its peak, the men believe they have a chance to compete for a conference title.

“We all want to do well as a team, but I think our competitiveness with each other is what sets this team apart,” Wickoren said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that want to be up there and can be up there on any given day. I think our depth makes us a hard team to beat.”

The women’s team is young and inexperienced, but Hunter has high expectations for a team that has improved each meet. The team has plenty of local runners making an impact with Gabriela Reyna (North graduate), Yazmine Wright (Hutchinson), Celia Biel (Hutch Trinity), and Suzanne Wright (Douglass).

Hunter believes the team has a potential all-conference runner in freshman Winny Koskei if she runs well.

“We’re probably not at the level where we can compete for a title now because we are so young,” Hunter said. “But if we can come through with a top-five finish, to me that’s a victory. We’ve redshirted some of our top girls, so once we get those girls back in the mix with our recruits coming in and with the young core we have, I think we’ll be challenging for the title next year.”

Softball team gets what it needs out of fall – Wichita State softball coach Kristi Bredbenner has to replace more than 300 innings pitched this upcoming season.

Finding pitchers to step in was the top priority for Bredbenner in Wichita State’s fall slate and she was encouraged, as the Shockers finished 8-0 and outscored their eight non-Division I opponents 125-10.

“I think we did what we needed to do and that was to dominate,” Bredbenner said. “We’re still not 100 percent, but the pitching circle really impressed me. We have some depth and got some valuable innings and some good experience in those eight games.”

Last season WSU had an ace in Katie Malone and a steady second option in Jenni Brooks.

With Malone and Brooks gone, Bredbenner said Wichita State is more likely to rely on a stable of pitchers this season.

Bailey Klitzke is the lone returner, while Bailey Lange is a transfer from Northern Iowa and struck out 31 batters in 19 innings in the fall. Freshmen Hailey Martinez and Caitlin Bingham are expected to help, while Asea Webber and Neleigh Herring may add bullpen options.

“With the softball we’re going to be playing in the American Conference, we’re going to be using a little bit more of that baseball mentality,” Bredbenner said. “We could have a starter, middle reliever, and closer. I like our depth and I think we’ll have a good bullpen, not just that one ace.”

Volleyball off to 9-0 start in the AAC – Wichita State volleyball improved to 9-0 in the AAC on Friday with a sweep of Cincinnati (25-22, 30-28, 25-19) at Koch Arena. The Shockers have only dropped three games in conference play.

Coach Chris Lamb doesn’t want his team to become complacent. The Shockers (17-3) are ranked No. 21 and are in the mix for hosting in the NCAA tournament.

“You look at some mistakes we’re making and maybe it wasn’t an error, but it’s still a reason why they scored easier than they should,” Lamb said. “Then you ask were you as physical as you could have been? This game at the highest level is a bunch of powerful women taking big swings all night long. The teams that pull back on those swings and tip too many, that will end up costing you in the tight ones.”

WSU faced one of the best hitters in the conference in Cincinnati’s Carly Nolan, and the back row was able to consistently dig her. Nolan finished with 14 kills on 48 attempts and a .167 hitting percentage.

Giorgia Civita finished with 17 digs, while Gabi Mostrom had 16 and Hanna Shelton added 10. Mostrom gave credit to WSU’s block for forcing Cincinnati to hit primarily in the seam, where the back row was already set up.

“I think we just did a good job of scouting them … and we had been practicing digging around the block,” Mostrom said. “Tonight I thought we just did a good job of executing.”

Abbie Lehman (18 kills, .441 hitting percentage) and Mikaela Raudsepp (13 kills) were once again solid, and Lamb was pleased with the emergence of Alex Koon (seven kills, .353) and Abby Pugh (six kills, .714).

“Any good team that scouts us is going to focus on Tab (Brown) and Abby,” Koon said. “So whenever you’re in the front row with them at the same time, you’ve got to be able to take advantage of that.”

Wichita State will play East Carolina at Koch Arena at 1 p.m. Sunday.

This story was originally published October 21, 2017 at 1:27 PM with the headline "Cross country excited to be first WSU program to compete at AAC championships."