Air Force Opens Season at Wyoming Invitational
8/28/2007 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Aug. 28, 2007
The Air Force cross country team ushers in the 2007 season with the annual Wyoming Invitational on Friday, Aug. 31. Under the direction of first-year head coach John Hayes, the Falcons will begin their season in Laramie, Wyo., at 6 p.m.
Weekly Release 01: at Wyoming
Download Free Acrobat Reader
ABOUT THE MEET
The annual Wyoming Invitational will take place at the Jacoby Golf Course in Laramie. The women's 2.5-mile race begins at 6 p.m., while the men's 4.25-mile event starts at 6:30 p.m. The course features flat and rolling fairways, in addition to some dirt trails.
THE NEW GUY
Although John Hayes may be new to the Academy staff, he is no stranger to coaching success. Prior to the Academy, Hayes served in the same capacity at Northern Arizona University, heading the cross country program and working as an assistant coach with the track team's distance runners. During his three years with the Lumberjacks, Hayes coached six individual NCAA champions and nine All-Americans. A two-time Big Sky Conference cross country coach of the year, Hayes guided his teams to four Big Sky titles, while accounting for five of six individual titles. He also qualified five individuals to the NCAA cross country championship meet, two of which collected All-America citations.
2007 CAPTAINS
Seniors Kenny Grosselin and Josh Van Wyngaarden were selected as co-captains for the men's team, while junior Danielle Pozun was chosen to guide the women's roster.
MEN PICKED SECOND
The men's cross country team was chosen to finish second at the MWC championships, the league announced with the release of the annual preseason coaches poll. Air Force collected 20 points, including one first-place vote, to finish just five points shy of defending champion BYU, which claimed the top spot with 25 points. Wyoming finished third with 14 points, while Colorado State and New Mexico tied for fourth with 13 points. TCU rounded out the six-team field with five points.
AIR FORCE WOMEN CHOSEN SIXTH
On the women's side, Air Force collected 26 points to tie with Utah for sixth place in the nine-team league. BYU picked up seven first-place votes, en route to a total of 63 points and the top spot in the poll. Colorado State collected two first-place votes to finish second with 55 points. New Mexico (44 points) and Wyoming (43 pts.) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, while San Diego State (eighth-24 pts.) and UNLV (ninth-13 pts.) rounded out the field.
SOME OTHER NEW FACES
Air Force will add six talented freshmen to its men's roster this season in Kyle Goldsmith, Brian Lane, Tyler Small, Kyle Southard, Tyler Stanley and Justin Tyner. Air Force will welcome seven new faces to the women's program in Whitney Beck, Jessica Drewicz, Caitlin Miller, Jessie Stimpson, Carrie Tengelsen, Gloriemar Torre' Santiago and Katherine Ward.
Players Mentioned
