Falcons Head to Aztec Invitational
9/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Sept. 12, 2007
The Air Force cross country team will travel to San Diego, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 15, for the 2007 Aztec Invitational. The women's 5000-meter invitational will begin at 8:15 a.m., while the men's 8000-meter invitational will begin at 10:15 a.m. The women's and men's "open" races will begin at 8:15 a.m., and 9:30 a.m., respectively. The meet will take place at Balboa Park, which is the site of the upcoming Mountain West Conference Championships in October.
Weekly Release 02: at Aztec Invitational
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ABOUT THE MEET
The Aztec Invitational is a late addition to the Falcons' schedule. Instead of competing at the Woody Greeno Invitational as originally planned, the Falcons will travel to San Diego, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 15, for the Aztec Invitational. The course features some hills that cover dirt, grass and concrete terrain.
MORE SCHEDULING NEWS
In addition, Air Force cancelled its trip to the Louisville Invitational on Sept. 29. Instead, the only meet that weekend will be the Rocky Mountain Shootout in Boulder, Colo.
MEN WIN AT WYOMING
Backed by a second-place finish from junior Sean Houseworth and three additional top-10 finishes, the Air Force men's cross country team won the Wyoming Invitational on Aug. 31. Air Force accumulated 32 points to win the team title for the second straight year, edging out Colorado State and its 39 points. Houseworth finished second of the 62 participants with a 4.25-mile time of 22:07 - one of three times that surpassed the previous invitational record that was set in 2005 by former Falcon Nick Wilson. Senior Ian McFarland finished fifth in 22:13, while classmates Josh Van Wyngaarden (22:34) and Kenny Grosselin (22:37) placed eighth and ninth, respectively. Sophomore Thomas Richter crossed the finish line in 22:44 to round out the scoring runners with an 11th-place finish.
YOUNG FALCONS SHOW PROMISE
Katherine Ward was the Falcon's top finisher at the Wyoming Invitational, clocking a 2.5-mile time of 15:53 to take 13th. Ally Romanko was close behind, recording a time of 16:11 to place 15th. Katie Anderson also posted a top-20 time, placing 19th in 16:27. Danielle Pozun finished 23rd with a time of 16:50, while Jessie Stimpson rounded out the scoring runners with a 26th-place time of 17:33.
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
