Williams Prepares for NCAA Championships
11/15/2007 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Nov. 15, 2007
Air Force junior Matt Williams will head to Terre Haute, Ind., for the 2007 NCAA Cross Country Championships on Monday, Nov. 20. The 10,000-meter race will be contested at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center near the campus of Indiana State University. Williams, an all-region and all-conference runner, will compete in the 10,000-meter race, which is slated to start at 12:08 p.m.
Weekly Release and Updated Bio 
HOW HE GOT HERE
Williams earned the automatic bid to the national meet after finishing within the top four runners from the Mountain Region, not on an advancing team. An all-region honoree, Williams finished 19th at the regional championships with a career-best 10k time of 31:06.8.
HISTORY 101
The Falcons' top finisher at both the Mountain West Conference and Mountain Regional championships, Williams will be the first Air Force runner to participate at the national meet since 2004, when the squad picked up a 14th-place team finish. Air Force, which sent full squads to the NCAA Championships in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004, has not sent an individual runner to the national stage since 1996, when Andrew Marx served as the Falcons' lone participant. The year prior (1995), Eric Mack - another individual qualifier - was the top American finisher.
RECAPPING REGIONALS
Backed by two all-region performances, Air Force placed sixth at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships on Nov. 10. Fresh off of their all-conference first-team selections, junior Matt Williams and senior Ian McFarland claimed all-conference accolades, based on their finishes within the top-25. The sixth-place team finish is the best placement for an Air Force team since 2004, when the Falcons finished third. The two all-region honorees are first for Air Force since 2005, when Jeff Gosselin and Nick Wilson collected the distinction.
SHAVING OFF THE SECONDS
In the first 10,000-meter race of the season, both all-region runners shaved nearly one second off of their career-best times. Matt Williams paced the Falcons with a time of 31:06.8, while Ian McFarland crossed the finish line in 31:09.3. In fact, all of the Air Force runners improved their career-best times in the 10k race. Sean Houseworth placed 35th with a time of 31:46.5, while Joe Curran clocked a time of 31:57.6 to place 41st and Josh Van Wyngaarden finished 43rd, with a time of 32:01.9. Kenny Grosselin and junior Parker Cowles rounded out the contingent of Air Force runner. Grosselin clocked a time of 32:39.7 to finish 57th, while Cowles crossed the finish line in 32:59.9 to place 61st.
WOMEN'S REGIONAL RECAP
On the women's side, Air Force collected a 16th-place team finish. The Falcons were paced by Katherine Anderson, who finished 51st with a time of 22:29.0 in the 6,000-meter race. Brittany Morreale crossed the finish line in 22:38.6 to finish 58th, while Katherine Ward recorded a time of 23:18.2 to finish 88th. Kelly Robinson crossed the finish line in 23:23.5 to finish 94th, while Ally Romanko (24:17.3-106th), Danielle Pozun (24:31.4-111th) and Jessie Stimpson (25:02.9-115th) rounded out the Falcon runners.
Players Mentioned
