Air Force Academy
Greeno Invitational
Hannah Everson, Andrew Johnston Pace Falcons at Nebraska
9/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
In her first 6K race of the season, Everson crossed the finish line in a time of 21:57 to finish second in the University standings and third in the full field of 216 runners. Everson was one of two Falcons to place within the top 10 of the University field, as sophomore Lindy Long finished 10th in 22:39.40. Senior Taylor Drolshagen finished 11th with a time of 22:51.00, while classmates Rebecca Esselstein and Heather Connick rounded out the Falcons' scoring runners, as they finished 19th (23:11.90) and 27th (23:42.20), respectively.
Air Force accounted for 67 points to finish second in the team standings. Wichita State won the women's meet with 35 points, while Air Force and Northern Colorado (80) rounded out the top three. Northern Iowa (101) and meet host Nebraska (105) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, North Dakota finished sixth (141), Omaha placed seventh (163) and Creighton finished eighth (237).
"I'm very happy with the progress the women's team has made over the last few weeks," head coach Ryan Cole said. "We had a few girls overcome some adversity today and I know their contributions will increase at our next meet. Our low-stick did a great job today and we have a very solid group forming behind her."
Making his collegiate debut, Johnston clocked an 8K time of 26:18.40 to finish fourth among University Division runners and eighth in the overall field that included 257 runners. Fellow freshmen Sean Lyons finished 11th in the University field, while junior Grant Caswell was 12th with a time of 26:44.60. Freshman Conner Wilburn also earned a top-20 finish, as he placed 16th with a time of 27:03.10, and sophomore Jason Engel finished 26th in 27:24.10 to round out the Falcons' scoring finishers.
The men tallied 69 points to take third in the team standings. Wichita State won the team title with 42 points, while host Nebraska (second, 55) and Air Force rounded out the top three. Miami (Ohio) tallied 90 points to finish fourth and Northern Iowa finished fifth with 96 points. North Dakota (168), Creighton (196) and Northern Colorado (256) finished sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively, to complete the field.
"This was an investment in our future," Cole said. "We had a very inexperienced group compete today - for many it was their first collegiate race and first 8K. Overall, we handled it well. This group knows there are a lot of steps to be taken and we took some today."
Five additional Falcons competed at the Woody Greeno Classic, including three men that finished within four places of each other. Junior Sean Bapty finished 33rd in the men's 8K, with a time of 27:45.80, while freshman Forrest Isenhour and junior Kevin Mihalik placed 35th (27:56.90) and 37th (28:02.30), respectively. In the women's 6K, freshman Carina Gillespie took 37th (24:07.40) and classmate Katie Burnham finished 54th in 25:02.50.
Air Force is off from competition 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 group will head to Boulder, Colo., for the annual Rocky Mountain Shootout on Saturday, Oct. 4.
Players Mentioned
