Air Force Academy
MWC Championships
Cross Country Teams Place in Top Three at MWC Championships
10/30/2001 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 30, 2001
The Air Force cross country teams concluded the regular season at the Mountain West Conference Cross Country Championships in Albuquerque last Saturday. The men from Air Force finished second, while the women's team placed third.
While Colorado State was favored to finish second in both races, the Air Force men surprised the Rams with its second-place finish, scoring 54 points. Four Falcons earned all-conference honors. As expected, Brigham Young swept the conference for the third straight year. The Cougar's men's team scored 47, while the women scored 17 points. The Rams finished fourth in the men's 8000 meters and the women finish second.
"The men ran very well at Albuquerque," said head coach Mark Stanforth. "This is by far the best team in my 10 years of coaching at Air Force. Brigham Young was outstanding and I was very impressed with Utah's team. We didn't lose the race-BYU beat us. Had we run four seconds faster we would have won the race."
David Romero, who finished third with a time of 24:29, earned first-team all-conference. Ben Payne was fifth with a time of 24:33 and earned first-team all-MWC. Chris Acs finished ninth with a career best 24:42. Brian Carpenter from Tempe, Ariz., finished 13th with a time of 24:57. Both earned second-team honors. Albert Kelly of Bristow, Okla., was 24th (25:27), Jim Blech was 34th (26:09), Rudy Taute (35th/26:24), Brian Dumm (39th/26:36) and Luke Mostoller finished 41st with a time of 26:51.
The women's team placed third in the Mountain West. The Falcons are the only Academy women's team to finish in the top three of the conference since going Division I in three straight years.
"The women's team ran very well and overall this is still the best team," said head coach Mark Stanforth. "This course is the same as when we ran here in September, but 15 seconds longer than the Lobo Invitational."
"Brandess ran very well. Elissa, really a 1500-meter runner, ran 10 seconds faster then when we were here in September," commented Stanforth. "Jean Taylor ran very well over the last half of the race-even with her injury. Overall, the women all ran 15 seconds faster then last time."
Air Force runner Brandess Pardue was the Falcons' leader with a time of 22:17. Pardue missed all-conference by three places, finishing 17th. Pardue's time is a career best and 58 seconds faster than last year's MWC time. Had she made all-MWC she would have been only the second women's cross country runner in school history to earn the honor. A sophomore (C3C), she still has two more chances to achieve that goal.
Junior (C2C) Elissa Ballas was the second Falcon runner to finish in the women's 6000 meters. Ballas was disappointed about finishing 22nd with a time of 22:49, which is where she finished last year in the MWC. However, she, too, will have another chance at the conference in 2002.
Jean Taylor, a sophomore, who ran with an iliotibial band injury suffered in September, finished 26th with at time of 23:02. Team captain Lara Coppinger finished 30th with a time of 23:19. A senior (C1C), this was Coppinger's last chance at the conference, however, she is expected to run in the Mountain Region Championships in November.
Sophomore runner Anne Chumlea, from Enon, Ohio finished 33rd with a time of 23:25. Two other runners, C3Cs Kelly McPherson (23:38) and Stephanie Cornell (24:47) finished 37th and 48th, respectively. The Falcons' only two freshmen (C4Cs), Cindy Dawson and Mary Uhler finished 38th and 39th, respectively. Dawson had a time of 23:43. Uhler from Easton, Penn., who never competed before joining the cross country team, finished with a time of 23:51 in her first championship race.
Men's 8K Team Scores: BYU, first (47), Air Force, second (54), Utah, third (63), Colorado State, fourth (86), New Mexico, fifth (87) and Wyoming, sixth (187).
Women's 6K Team Scores: BYU, first (17), CSU, second (45), Air Force, third (113), Utah, fourth (124), New Mexico, fifth (139), Wyoming, sixth (168), SDSU, seventh (177) and UNLV, eighth (214).
Congratulations to coach Stanforth and assistant coach Jennifer Lyons for a job well done.
