Cross Country Teams Prepare for MWC Championships
10/24/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
USAFA, Colo. -- The Falcons had a week off to prepare for the Mountain West Conference Cross Country Championships, Saturday, Oct. 28. The championship races will be held in Fort Collins, CO. Colorado State will host the eight-team conference event at Collindale Golf Course. The women's race will start at 11:00 followed by the men's start at 11:45 a.m."Our teams have set a standard each year, finishing in the top three every year," said Head Coach Mark Stanforth. "With a solid performance, we should achieve that this year."
Saturday's championship races will be tough. "Brigham Young is ranked first nationally for the women and CSU is ranked 14th. I think that we can run with everyone elseI think it's going to be a battle between Utah and Air Force for third," said Stanforth.
In the men's race, Stanforth foresees a similar situation. "BYU is ranked seventh and CSU is ranked 22nd and both teams have beaten us this year," he said.
BYU's men's and women's teams won last year's inaugural MWC Cross Country Championship. Stanforth expects BYU to be hard to beat again this year. "We'll have to beat Utah for third although I don't think CSU is out of our reach either," said Stanforth. "It would take a great race, and a bit of a drop-off by BYU for us to win."
Leading the Academy's field of women's runners will be Jaime Flood from Kings Park, NY. "Jaime is our top returnee and will probably be our first finisher at the meet," said Stanforth. According to Stanforth, Flood has a shot at making all-conference, if she finishes in the top 14, which would be great. Another top finisher to look for is Jean Taylor from Florissant, MO and will also be counted on to give the other conference runners a run for the money.
The team leader in the men's race will be Joe Monaco. "Monaco is our top returnee and will be one of our top finishers," continued Stanforth. Last year, he finished eighth in the conference meet. There are two other Air Force competitors that Stanforth is counting on to cross the finish line with an early lead, David Romero and Chris Acs. "Both have been our top finishers during this fall and should be up there as well," said Stanforth. "The strength of our men's team is that we have good depth and they all run close together," he said.
In last year's race, the Academy's men's team finished second and the women's team finished third. That third-place finish was the highest ever for an Academy's women's cross country team since going to Division I.
Saturday's race will be an exciting conclusion for the eight-team members of the MWC.
After the MWC Championships, Air Force will head to Weber State to compete in the NCAA Mountain Regionals in Ogden, Utah on Nov. 11. Start time is 11:00 a.m.
