Air Force Returns to Action at Woody Greeno Invitational
9/18/2014 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
The Air Force cross country team returns to action on Saturday (Sept. 20), when it travels to Lincoln, Neb., for the 25th-annual Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational. The women kick off the day at Pioneers Park with a 6K race (10:00 a.m.), while the men's 8K race follows.
Meet Notes 02: at Woody Greeno Invitational 
MEET INFORMATION
The Woody Greeno Invitational, jointly hosted by the University of Nebraska and Nebraska Wesleyan University, will take place at Pioneers Park in Lincoln. More than 50 teams and 600 individuals are scheduled to compete in a women's 6K race and a men's 8K race.
WHO TO WATCH...
The Falcons will send 16 runners to Nebraska, including four freshmen who will be making their collegiate debut. Sean Bapty, Grant Caswell, Jason Engel, Forrest Isenhour, Andrew Johnston, Sean Lyons, Kevin Mihalik and Connor Wilburn will represent the men's team, while Katie Burnham, Heather Connick, Taylor Drolshagen, Rebecca Esselstein, Hannah Everson, Carina Gillespie, Nicole Hahn and Lindy Long will represent the women's team.
HISTORY 101
Air Force, which last competed at Nebraska's Woody Greeno Invitational in 2012, has claimed eight team titles at that meet. The men picked up team titles in 1999 (tied with Nebraska), 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2011 and 2012, while the women completed the Falcons' sweep in 2012 by snapping the host Huskers' seven-year winning streak. Individually, Jim Walmsley picked up a pair of meet titles, winning the races in 2010 and 2011.
MEN RECEIVE VOTES IN NATIONAL POLL
The men were listed in the USTFCCCA Coaches' Poll that was released on Sept. 16. The Falcons, which return three runners from last season's squad that finished 20th at the NCAA Championships, are tied with Butler for second in the "receiving votes" category and 32nd overall (nine points). It is the 10th consecutive week that Air Force has been mentioned in the coaches' poll, dating back to the start of the 2013 season.
FALCONS IMPACT RECORD BOOK
The men made a major impact to the program's list of 6K times at the Fresno State Invitational. Backed by Kyle Eller's 18:41.40, seven Falcons - Dan Caddigan, Riley Coates, Zach Perkins, Patrick Corona, Daniel Shellhouse and Matt Dorsey - recorded times that bettered the previous #2 time. On the women's side, Air Force competed in a 4200-meter distance for the first time in program history, so Hannah Everson now holds the Academy's top time at 14:53.20.
MEN WIN FRESNO STATE INVITATIONAL
With all five scoring runners finishing in the top eight, Air Force easily won the men's title at the season-opening 6K Fresno State Invitational and bettered a pair of conference teams. Kyle Eller paced the Falcons with a fourth-place finish in the collegiate field (18:41.40), while all five scorers were separated by less than one second. Dan Caddigan (fifth, 18:41.90), Riley Coaches (sixth, 18:41.90), Zach Perkins (seventh, 18:42.00) and Patrick Corona (eighth, 18:50.80) rounded out the scoring runners.
EVERSON PACES FALCONS TO RUNNER-UP FINISH
Backed by a third-place finish from Hannah Everson, the women finished second among five Division I teams at the Fresno State Invitational (and second among four conference teams). With a 4200-meter time of 14:53.20, Everson finished third in the 66-runner event, while Heather Connick (sixth, 15:00.30), Taylor Drolshagen (eighth, 15:02.60) and Lindy Long (10th, 15:10.60) also finished within the top 10. Nicole Hahn rounded out the group of scoring runners with a 12th-place time of 15:17.60.
FOLLOW THE FALCONS ON TWITTER
Fans of Air Force cross country can follow the team on Twitter via @af_trackfield - the official account of the Falcons' cross country and track and field teams. The Falcons can also be found on Instagram, using the same name.
LOOKING AHEAD
Air Force is off until Oct. 3-4, when the squad splits for a pair of meets. Part of the team will travel to the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind., on Friday, Oct. 3, while the rest of the squad will head to Boulder, Colo., for the annual Rocky Mountain Shootout on Saturday, Oct. 4.
Players Mentioned
