WSU’s Winny Koskei becomes first AAC cross country runner to win three league titles
It didn’t take long for Wichita State to claim the most accomplished runner in the history of the American Athletic Conference.
Winny Koskei on Saturday became the first runner, male or female, in AAC history to win three cross country individual championships. The WSU senior from Kenya claimed her third straight AAC title on Saturday with a winning time of 20 minutes, 49 seconds on her home 6-kilometer course at 4 Mile Creek Resort in Augusta.
“It means a lot,” Koskei said in her post-victory interview. “I know it was tough, but I’ve been preparing for this and I’m happy with how the race today went.”
Koskei also punched her ticket to the NCAA Cross Country Championships, which will be held on March 15 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. She will look to add to her illustrious career, which includes an All-American performance (35th overall) in 2018 after just missing the cut-off (47th overall) in 2019.
WSU’s women cross country team finished in second place with a team score of 61 points, well behind Tulsa (40) and just in front of Cincinnati (70). Koskei and Yazmine Wright, who finished fifth overall in a time of 21:12, pushed the Shockers to their high finish. McKenna Paintin (13th, 22:03), Danielle Rinn (16th, 22:06) and Hope Saunders (27th, 22:32) rounded out the team score.
The men’s team battled through snowy conditions to settle for a fourth-place finish with a team score of 112 points with Jed Helker leading the way for the Shockers with a 14th place finish in an 8-kilometer time of 24:58. The team score was rounded out by Clayton Duchatschek (25:07), Adam Moore (25:08), Ethan Kossover (25:27) and Bryce Merriman (25:33).
WSU volleyball team off to a 5-0 start
The Wichita State volleyball team picked up two straight wins over North Texas this week to push their undefeated start to the season to 5-0.
After sweeping North Texas in straight sets (25-18, 25-19, 25-12) on Thursday, WSU came back the next day and took care of the Mean Green in four sets (25-20, 23-25, 25-18, 25-18). It is the first time WSU has won five straight matches since 2017.
Megan Taflinger finished with a team-high 13 kills and Sophia Rohling added 12 kills in WSU’s win on Friday, while Rohling registered a career-high 14 kills and hit a career-best .609 to lead the Shockers to their win on Thursday.
Through five matches, Sina Uluave, Lily Liekweg and Nicole Anderson are all averaging better than three digs per set. Brooke Smith and Emma Wright are leading the team’s block, averaging more than one per set. The offense has been run by setters Kayce Litzau and McKayla Wuensch.
The Shockers will open American Athletic Conference play next Thursday and Friday with matches at Tulsa.
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