Air Force Travels to NCAA Mountain Region Championships
11/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Nov. 8, 2011
The Air Force cross country team returns to action this weekend, traveling to Provo, Utah, for the 2011 NCAA Mountain Region Championships on Saturday, Nov. 12. The meet, which will be held at BYU's East Bay Golf Course, is slated to begin at 11 a.m., with the men's 10K race. The women's 6K event will follow at noon.
Meet Notes 07: at Regional Championships 
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Updated Men's Stats | Updated Women's Stats
MEET INFORMATION
The 2011 NCAA Mountain Region Championships will take place throughout East Bay Golf Course (1860 S East Bay Blvd) in Provo, Utah. Admission is free for all spectators. The men's 10,000-meter championship race will kick off the day at 11 a.m., while the women's 6000-meter race is slated for a noon start.
WHO'S WHO
Runners from Air Force, BYU, Colorado, Colorado State, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Nevada, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Northern Arizona, Southern Utah, Texas-El Paso, Texas Tech, Utah, Utah State, Utah Valley, Weber State and Wyoming will be compete at the Mountain Regional. BYU (third), Colorado (fourth) and Northern Arizona (12th) are ranked nationally on the men's side, while Colorado (third) and New Mexico (19th) are listed in the women's national rankings. (Regional rankings can be found on page four of this release).
HOW IT WORKS
The top two teams from each of the nine regional championships (West, Mountain, Midwest, South Central, Great Lakes, South, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast), will earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Cross Country Championships. In addition, the top four runners from each region, not on an advancing team, will earn a spot at the national meet. The remaining spots will be filled with 13 at-large teams from around the country. The NCAA Championship selections will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 13.
ALL-REGION SELECTIONS
Air Force returns one all-region selection in Jeremy Drenckhahn, who placed 13th at the 2010 Mountain Region Championships. Since head coach Juli Benson arrived in 2009, the Falcons have accounted for three all-region runners and four total certificates.
FIVE FALCONS CLAIM ALL-MW HONORS
Five runners collected all-conference honors at the Mountain West Championships - marking the highest total since 2005 and the second-most in Academy history. On the men's side, Jeremy Drenckhahn and Jim Walmsley were named to the first team, while Andrew Quallio and Isaiah Bragg earned second-team distinction. In addition, Melissa Fuerst claimed all-league honors for the women with a second-team selection.
DID YOU KNOW?
Jeremy Drenckhahn's second-place finish is tied for the best placement ever by an Air Force runner in Mountain West Championship action. He joined Ben Payne (2003), Nick Wilson (2005) and Justin Tyner (2010) as a conference runner-up, while becoming the team's first non-senior to claim the second-place spot.
FUERST FACTS
Melissa Fuerst became just the fifth member of the women's program to claim all-conference honors at the Division I level (1996-present), as she finished ninth at the Mountain West meet. Fuerst, who joined Rachel Smith (1999), Kelly Robinson (2004), Nicole Graham (2005) and Katherine Ward (2010) on the program's all-conference list, became just the second female runner to ever place within the top 10 at a conference meet.
MEN PLACE SECOND AT MW CHAMPIONSHIPS
Highlighted by Jeremy Drenckhahn's runner-up finish in 25:11.2, the men placed second at the Mountain West Cross Country Championships on Oct. 29 - just three points out of first. Jim Walmsley also placed the top five (fifth, 25:24.9), while Andrew Quallio and Isaiah Bragg finished 12th (25:38.0) and 14th (25:44.8), respectively. All five scoring runners for Air Force finished within the top 25, as Gavin Owens rounded out the scoring with a 21st-place time of 26:03.6.
WOMEN FINISH FOURTH AT CONFERENCE MEET
Finishing ninth in a time of 21:21.9, Melissa Fuerst recorded the Falcons' second-highest placement ever at the Mountain West Championships on Oct. 29, while pacing the women to a fourth-place team finish. Jen Bremser (21st, 22:16.6) also finished within the top 25, while Kate Kanetzky (27th, 22:35.4) crossed the finish line among the top 30. Katie Carroll (34th, 22:49.6) and Morgan Mosby (35th, 22:52.8) rounded out the Falcons' five scoring runners.
A LITTLE TRIVIA
The three-point margin between New Mexico and Air Force (51-54) at the conference championship is the narrowest margin in Mountain West Championship history. That gap broke the previous record of four points (37-41) that separated Air Force and BYU at the 2003 championship meet.
WHAT'S AHEAD
The 2011 cross country season comes to a close on Monday, Nov. 21, with the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Ind.
Players Mentioned
