Here’s what this WSU cross country runner has to do to win AAC title

Wichita State distance runner Winny Koskei has taken on a champion before and won and the sophomore will attempt to do so again on Thursday at the American Athletic Conference Championships in New Orleans.

After Koskei beat out SMU’s Hannah Miller in May on the track to claim the 5,000- and 10,000-meter titles at the AAC Outdoor Championships, the two will once again duel in the women’s 6-kilometer race on Thursday morning to decide the cross country champion. The race will be streamed on the American Digital Network Plus Facebook page starting at 8 a.m.

Miller, the defending champion, ran almost a full minute faster than Koskei at this race one year ago. But as WSU cross country coach Kirk Hunter points out, Koskei has been a different runner since becoming a two-time conference champion on the track.

“Winny didn’t have this kind of confidence until we got into the outdoor season,” Hunter said. “Now when I talk to Winny, I see a confidence in her eyes. Now she knows she can run with high-level people and beat them. Now that doesn’t mean she’s absolutely going to beat Hannah, but she believes she can. And once you get an athlete to believe, then there’s very little that can stop them.”

WSU has had six conference champions (Deisraye Osburn in 2005, Kellyn Johnson in 2007, Tonya Nero in 2010, Aliphine Tuliamuk in 2011 and 2012, and Rebekah Topham in 2016) since 2005 and Hunter believes Koskei can become the seventh.

To do so, Koskei will have to carefully manage her energy at the start of the race, a stretch that Miller historically dominates.

“Hannah goes out so aggressive and I haven’t seen anyone in the conference be able to go out with her in the first 400 meters,” Hunter said. “That aggressive style separates her from the pack and most of the time people never come back on her. That’s why I really respect her as an athlete because she’s not scared to go out and do it and that takes a lot of guts.”

But Koskei will be running with the confidence of having survived Miller’s torrid start and winning in the end before. That’s how the 10,000 race played out on the track, as Miller held a significant lead early before Koskei eventually pulled even midway through the race and eventually won.

Whittling down Miller’s lead by the halfway point of the race on Thursday will be key for Koskei.

“We’ve got to be able to cover what Hannah does and that’s going to be very hard to do,” Hunter said. “But Winny has looked terrific in practice and I think she looks ready. If she can be with her in the middle, then it’s going to be a race and who knows what will happen.

“I don’t know how you can count out Winny, but Hannah is an amazing athlete and she’s going to be determined to take her crown back.”

After finishing sixth at last year’s AAC meet, the WSU women hope to jump into the top three this season with Koskei and Topham leading the way. Yazmine Wright is running close to her best, while Winnie Kibet, Rita Schnacker and Amber Reed should round out the pack for the Shockers.

Connecticut is the defending champions, although SMU (No. 3 in South Central) enters with the highest regional ranking. Temple (No. 7 in Mid-Atlantic), Tulsa (No. 11 in Midwest), WSU (No. 12 in Midwest) and Houston (No. 14 in South Central) are also ranked.

The Shocker men also have top-three aspirations, but it will take the best race of the season from their pack of runners that include Zack Penrod, Clayton Duchatschek, Ben Flowers, Pedro Montoya and Dray Carson. They finished fifth as a team last season.

“We haven’t put it all together yet,” Hunter said. “We have the ability to run much closer as a pack. We do it every day in practice, but we haven’t had many chances to do it in a meet. That’s been by design. We’re hoping that’s going to pay off starting this week and we start hitting on all cylinders and show the team that we really are.”

Tulsa (No. 3 in Midwest) is the four-time defending AAC champions and enter with the highest regional ranking, while Temple (No. 7 in Mid-Atlantic), Connecticut (No. 11 in Northeast), Tulane (No. 14 in South Central), and Memphis (No. 15 in South) also are ranked.