Penn Finishes As Runner Up, Bearcats Claim Four All-Conference Honors

By Press release submission

Oct 28, 2022

Both men (84 pts) and women (95 pts) teams place third overall

The University of Cincinnati men's and women's cross country teams collected four All-Conference honors at the 2022 American Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships on Friday in Tulsa, Okla.

Redshirt senior Rylee Penn (2nd), graduate student Milo Greder (6th), and seniors Tyler Wirth (7th) and Maddie Walker (8th) earned All-Conference accolades for the Bearcats.

Both Bearcat teams finished in third place overall, as the men's team recorded 84 points and the women's team scored 95 points.

Redshirt senior Rylee Penn was the highlight of the meet as she was the runner up in the women's 6K. The Corona, Calif., native ran a personal-best time of 20:53.0 as she dominated the course at Mohawk Park.

"It felt great," Penn said. "I worked really hard for this. After coming back from a number of injuries, it was great that the team had my back today."

Penn's second-place finish is the highest women's individual finish at the AAC Cross Country Championships in Bearcat history. She topped Ellie Leathers' third-place finish set in 2020.

Walker collected her third AAC All-Conference honor with an eighth-place finish for the women. The two-time AAC Athlete of the Week completed the race in 21:08.9 and was inside the top-10 for the majority of the race.

In the men's 8K, Greder captured his first AAC All-Conference award after placing sixth overall with a time of 24.11.5. In total, he now has earned five All-Conference honors in his collegiate cross country career (four All-Big 12, one All-AAC). With an average 2K pace of 6:01.8, the Iowa State transfer never fell outside the top-10.

"Not complaining about sixth," Greder said. "It was a tough day with Tulsa's top-three putting on the pressure around the 4K mark. I think the most important thing was having Tyler there right behind me in seventh. I know we both battled today more than we would like to, but we had some really good guys in the back, so I am pumped with our team's performance."

Wirth crossed the finish line .03 seconds behind Greder with a time of 24:11.8. His seventh-place finish is his best finish at the AAC Cross Country Championships. It is also the third time in his career he has garnered his All-Conference accolades.

All five of the men's scorers placed inside the top 30. Senior Christian Stevens was next to cross the finish line for UC at the 24:46.0-mark, placing 22nd overall.

"This is the second year in a row that we have placed third as a team and I am really pound of them," men's coach Lucas Rothenberger said. "I think it was far from perfect, we left some points on the table, but I think the maturity of this group showed that when we are having an off day, we are able to minimize the bleeding."

Ryan Pehlman had his best race of the season, placing 25th with a time of 24:54.5. Rounding out the men's scorers was senior Julius Hild, who finished with a time of 25:04.6.

"I am really happy that our guys stepped up, like Ryan and Christian," Rothenberger said. "They stepped up when it got hard, and I am really proud of that group."

Freshmen Sarah Madix and Gwen Stare continued to shine for the women. Both have now finished as one of the first five Bearcats in the last four meets.

"Really proud of how the women competed today," women's coach Sarah Anderson said. "We came in with really big goals and everyone did what they needed to do today. Our four, five, six really stepped up which helped with points. The freshmen contended to be consistent like they had been all season. Rylee had a huge breakout finishing, second in the conference, highest finish in Bearcat history which is huge for us."

Madix was the third Bearcat to cross the finish line for the women. She ran a 22:11.4 and placed 22nd overall. Stare finished just behind Madix in 30th with a time of 21:53.7.

Maggie Breitenstein closed out the women's scorers with a 33rd-place finish in a time of 22:23.0.

Tulsa's Isaac Akers (23:51.7) and Chloe Hershenow (20:50.4) claimed individual titles in the men's and women's races, respectably, as Tulsa swept both team titles.

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The Bearcats will to Terre Haute, Ind., to compete in the 2022 NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Friday, Nov. 11. The meet is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.