KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - UPIKE men's and women's cross-country teams ran in the 2024 AAC Championship Friday. The AAC also released the 2024 men's and women's cross-country academic all-conference teams as well.  

On the men's side, Obed Cheruiyot had the best time for the Bears with a 28:33.36, followed by Kelvin Kurgat with a 29:16.86. Niles McCoy ran a 33:13.29 and Lucas Ison finished 24 seconds behind McCoy. Jacob Hughes ran 37:25.24, Syrus Ramsey ran 39:29.46, Zachary Neace ran a 41:40.36, and RJ Goins finished 15 seconds behind Neace to round out the UPIKE results. The Bears finished 12th as a team.  

On the women's side, Kylee Hamilton had the best time for UPIKE with a 30:36.09. Michelle Kemboi had UPIKE's second-best time with a 31:26.35 and Sheila Maiyo finished 24 seconds behind Kemboi. Jasmine Meade ran a 35:28.13 and Alexa Muha finished one second later. Rounding out the results for the Bears was Ali Cantrell with a 38:40.84. As a team, UPIKE finished in 12th place.

The AAC released their 2024 academic all-conference honorees for men's and women's cross-country. For a student-athlete to qualify for this honor, they must be a sophomore, junior, senior, or graduate student and must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or higher. The 2024 academic all-conference honorees for the UPIKE men's cross-country team are Niles McCoy, Zachary Neace, and Syrus Ramsey. The 2024 honorees for the UPIKE women's cross-country team are Abigail Meyer, Alexa Muha, and Olivia Ross.  

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