Justin Tyner Earns All-Region Cross Country Accolades

Nov. 14, 2009

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Junior Justin Tyner continued his stellar cross country season this morning (Nov. 14), as he picked up all-region honors with a fifth-place finish at the 2009 NCAA Mountain Region Championships in Albuquerque, N.M. Tyner, who paced the Falcons to a sixth-place team finish, earned a spot in the upcoming NCAA National Championship meet.

Clocking a career-best 10K time of 30:29.5, Tyner placed fifth in the 120-runner competition. His time was a 20-second personal improvement over his time at last year's regional championships. Tyner will be the first Air Force runner to participate at the national championship meet since Matt Williams earned a bid to the 2007 championships.

Senior Zach Nordahl also improved his personal-best time, as clocked a time of 31:25.6 to finish 31st. Sophomores Jonathan Rock and James Walmsley made their collegiate debut in the 10,000-meter cross country distance, finishing within the top 40. Rock clocked a time of 31:42.7 to finish 36th, while Walmsley crossed the finish line in 31:48.9 to place 39th. Senior Andy Schweitzer, also making his 10K debut, rounded out the Falcons' top-five scorers with a 50th-place time of 32:06.1.

Freshman Jeremy Drenckhahn and junior Tyler Small also competed for the Falcons at the regional meet. Drenckhahn recorded a debut time of 32:49.2 to finish 80th, while Small finished 96th in his first 10K race in a time of 33:27.2.

Air Force tallied 161 points to finish sixth in the 20-team meet. The team's sixth-place finish is the second-highest team placement for the Falcons since 2004. The team also finished sixth in 2007, before placing fifth at last year's meet.

BYU, ranked 14th in the national standings, won the regional meet with 54 points, edging out fifth-ranked Colorado by just one point. Conference champion and 12th-ranked New Mexico finished third (77 points), while fourth-ranked Northern Arizona (86) and Texas-El Paso (158) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

The women were paced by seniors Ally Romanko and Katie Lynch, who finished 63rd and 64th, respectively. Romanko recorded a time of 22:39.5 to lead the Falcons for the fourth-time of the season, while Lynch finished right behind her with a time of 22:41.0.

Sophomore Auriele Fain placed 80th in 22:58.8, while junior Katherine Ward (23:05.0) and freshman Kate Kanetzky (personal-best, 23:05.7) recorded back-to-back 84th- and 85th-place finishes. Sophomore Meghan Prinkey rounded out the Air Force scorers with a 94th-place, career-best time of 23:15.2. Freshman Jennifer Bremser rounded out the Air Force contingent, placing 99th in 23:22.0.

Air Force amassed 376 points to finish 13th in the 20-team field.

Collecting three top-nine finishes, Colorado (ranked sixth nationally, 48 points) and Texas Tech (ranked eighth nationally, 53 points) finished first and second at the regional meet. BYU placed third with 114 points, while Texas-El Paso (116) and conference champion New Mexico (120) rounded out the top five.

The 2009 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships are scheduled for Monday, Nov. 23, at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute, Ind.

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