Air Force Academy
Washington Invitational
Corona, Everson Lead Falcons at Washington Invitational
10/2/2015 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 2, 2015
SEATTLE, Wash. -- Backed by fifth-place individual finishes from seniors Patrick Corona and Hannah Everson, the Air Force cross country team picked up fifth-place finishes in the team standings of the men's and women's races at the Washington Invitational on Friday, Oct. 2, in Seattle. The Falcons recorded the best finish by a team not currently ranked in the national poll in both races.
Corona completed the 8K course at Jefferson Park Golf Club in an Academy-best time of 23:23.1 to finish fifth out of 106 runners -- and just 7.8 seconds behind the meet winner, two-time NCAA cross country champion Edward Cheserek of Oregon. Corona was one of two Falcons to finish within the top 15 of the race, as junior Kyle Eller clocked a time of 23:35.4 -- the Academy's second-fastest 8K time -- to finish 15th. Sophomore Andrew Johnston also impacted the program's all-time standings, as he clocked the sixth-fastest 8K time -- 23:49.9 -- to place 26th. Junior Matt Dorsey and senior Dan Caddigan rounded out the Falcons' scoring contingent, as they finished 43rd (24:04.8) and 52nd (24:09.5), respectively.
With 136 points, Air Force finished fifth in the 11-team meet -- bettering a pair of squads that were receiving votes in this week's USTFCCCA National Poll. Fifth-ranked Oregon won the Washington Invitational with 52 points, while second-ranked Stanford (69) edged No. 12 BYU (70) for second. No. 11 UCLA finished fourth with 117 points, while Air Force finished fifth. Host Washington and Portland, the two squads receiving votes, finished sixth (146) and seventh (176), respectively, while Washington State rounded out the top eight with 189 points.
On the women's side, Everson clocked a personal-best 6K time of 19:50.2 to finish fifth out of 113 runners and knock nearly a minute off of her own Air Force Division I record at that distance. Everson, who finished just 9.2-seconds off of the race-winning time, was one of four Falcons to break the program's previous standard. Junior Lindy Long covered the course in a time of 20:29.3 to finish 28th overall, while classmate Samantha Skold finished 32nd in a time of 20:31.6. Sophomore Katie Burnham clocked the program's fourth-fastest DI time -- 20:44.4 -- to finish 40th, while classmate Carina Gillespie rounded out the Falcons' scoring group with a 45th-place time of 20:51.3 -- the sixth-fastest time in Academy DI history.
The women tallied 143 points to place fifth in the 12-team field. Fifth-ranked Oregon won the race with 36 points, while No. 15 Washington (59) claimed second over fourth-ranked Stanford (60) by one point. No. 23 BYU finished fourth with 77 points and Air Force rounded out the top five and distanced itself from the rest of the field by nearly 60 points.
Seven additional members of the men's squad also competed at the Washington Invitational this evening. Sophomore Andrew Milliron and junior Jason Engel finished 63rd (24:20.1) and 64th (24:26.0), respectively, while senior Daniel Shellhouse placed 73rd in a time of 24:35.7. Just 0.6-seconds separated freshman Mickey Davey (76th, 24:41.2) and senior Grant Caswell (77th, 24:41.8), while senior Sean Bapty finished two spots behind the pair (79th) with a time of 24:46.2. Freshman Trevor Siniscalchi clocked a career-best time of 25:02.4 to finish 88th and round out the men's roster. On the women's side, senior Anna Olesinski finished 66th with a time of 21:32.7, while freshman Shanna Burns clocked in at 23:15.6 (110th).
"Both of our teams competed hard today and we found out a bit more about where we're at in our first major competition of the season," head coach Ryan Cole said. "On the men's side, we went up against some of the premier teams in the country. We're working toward becoming one of those teams, but we still have some work to do. Overall, our guys ran solid individual races, but we can improve over the next six weeks. Our women were very similar to the men. They performed like we've be running in practice almost across the board. However, there are a few key positions that we'll improve. But both groups were encouraging today and we're excited to keep getting better as we move toward our championship events."
Several Falcons will compete tomorrow (Oct. 3) at the annual Rocky Mountain Shootout in Boulder. Air Force is then off from competition until Saturday, Oct. 17, when they travel to Louisville, Ky., for the annual Pre-Nationals Invitational at Tom "E.P." Sawyer Park -- site of the 2015 NCAA Championships.
Players Mentioned
