Air Force Academy
NCAA Mountain Regional
Air Force Men Finish Fifth at NCAA Regional
11/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Nov. 15, 2008
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Backed by a 15th-place individual finish from senior Matt Williams, the Air Force men's cross country team finished fifth at the NCAA Mountain Regional Championships on Saturday, Nov. 15, in Fort Collins, Colo. The women's team, which finished 13th, were led by junior Katie Lynch, who finished 44th.
Williams and classmate Sean Houseworth were named to the all-region team, based on their finishes in today's meet. It is the second straight season that Williams has claimed all-region accolades. It is also the second time in as many years that Air Force has claimed two all-region accolades.
Williams clocked a career-best 10K time of 30:07 to pace the Falcons to their best regional finish since the 2004 season and their second-best team placement since 1994. He shaved one minute off of his previous personal-best time of 31:07 that he set last year at the regional meet.
Williams was one of three Air Force runners to finish under the 31-minute mark. Houseworth improved his career-best time by nearly a minute and a half, en route to a 24th-place time of 30:22. Sophomore Justin Tyner clocked a time of 30:50 to finish 38th in the 109-runner race.
Senior Brad Chronister, who is in his first year with the cross country program, finished 56th with a career-best time of 31:31, while classmate Daniel Castle rounded out the Air Force scoring runners with a 57th-place time of 31:40.
Senior Kyle Jones finished 58th with a time of 31:41, while junior Zach Nordahl posted a time of 32:21 to finish 70th.
Air Force combined for 173 points to finish fifth in the 15-team meet. Highlighted by four top-10 finishes, Colorado won the regional title with 42 points. Northern Arizona placed second with 65 points, while conference opponents BYU (70) and New Mexico (93) finished third and fourth, respectively.
On the women's side, Air Force was led by three members of the junior class. Lynch's 44th-place time of 21:46 is the best by a member of the women's team in at least five years. Classmate Ally Romanko finished 69th with a time of 22:13, while fellow junior Katie Anderson placed 71st after crossing the finish line in 22:15.
A pair of freshmen rounded out the Falcons' scoring runners, as Elyse Willard and Auriele Fain finished 80th (22:26) and 83rd (22:32), respectively. Sophomore Katherine Ward and freshman Phaelen French also competed at the regional meet. Ward clocked a time of 23:01 to finish 99th, while French crossed the finish line in 24:01 to finish 118th.
The women collected 347 points to place 13th. Texas Tech won the regional title with 42 points and four of the top eight runners. New Mexico finished second with 70 points, while Northern Arizona finished third with 92 points.
Players Mentioned
