Air Force Heads to Pre-National Invitational
10/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 12, 2016
The Air Force cross country team returns to action this weekend, when it travels to Terre Haute, Ind., for the annual Pre-National Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 15. The meet, which features 16 programs listed among the top 30 of the USTFCCCA National Rankings, will begin at 11:00 a.m. (ET).
Meet Notes 04: at Pre-National Invitational 
MEET INFORMATION
The Pre-National Invitational, hosted by Indiana State University, will take place on Saturday, Sept. 15, at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course, which is located at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center (599 South Tabortown Road) in Terre Haute – the site of this year's NCAA Cross Country Championships. The full schedule features six races, including seeded, unseeded and open races for both the men (8K) and women (6K). Action is slated to begin at 11:00 a.m. (ET). Live stats will be provided via RTSPT.com, while Flotrack will cover the races through its FloPRO subscription service.
WHO TO WATCH...
Air Force will send a total of 14 runners to Terre Haute for the Pre-National Invitational. Lindsey Blanks, Katie Burnham, Shanna Burns, Carina Gillespie, Lindy Long, Samantha Skold and Jaci Smith will compete in the women's 6K race, while Jacob Bilvado, Matt Dorsey, Kyle Eller, Andrew Johnston, Andrew Milliron, Andrew Tankersley and Nathan Thomas will run in the men's 8K.
SCOUTING THE WOMEN'S FIELD
A total of 41 women's teams are scheduled to compete in the Blue Race at the Pre-National Invitational. The lineup includes four teams listed in the top-10 of the USTFCCCA National Rankings – Colorado (2), Portland (5), Stanford (7) and Oregon (9) – four that are ranked in the top 30 – Arkansas (12), Michigan (13), Eastern Michigan (16) and Virginia (22) – and seven that are receiving votes in the weekly poll – Butler, Cal Poly, California, Dartmouth, Florida, Indiana and Mississippi State. The remainder of the field includes Air Force, Arizona, Arizona State, Brown, Coastal Carolina, Colorado State, Eastern Kentucky, Elon, Furman, Iowa, James Madison, Kansas, Louisville, Marquette, UMass-Lowell, Missouri, Montana State, New Hampshire, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Purdue, Rice, Toledo, Tulane and Utah State.
A LOOK AT THE MEN'S LINEUP
The Blue Race of the men's Pre-National field includes 41 programs, including top-10 squads from Oregon (4), Arkansas (5), Colorado (6) and Portland (7). The field also includes top-20 teams from UTEP (12), Indiana (13), Eastern Kentucky (15) and Michigan (20), as well as three (California, Dartmouth, Louisville) that are receiving votes in the USTFCCCA National Rankings. Air Force, Arizona State, Bowling Green, Bradley, Butler, Cal Poly, Campbell, Cornell, Dayton, Florida, Furman, Gonzaga, Harvard, Indiana State, Iowa, IUPUI, Kansas, Lehigh, Missouri, Nebraska, North Texas, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Purdue, San Francisco, Utah State, Utah Valley, Wichita State, Wyoming and Youngstown complete the field.
LAST YEAR AT THE PRE-NATIONAL INVITATIONAL
Hannah Everson earned runner-up honors in the women's 6K, as Air Force wrapped up competition at the 2015 Pre-National Invitational, which was held in Louisville. Backed by Everson's second-place finish in the 311-competitor race, the women finished 12th out of 45 teams, including two that were listed in the USTFCCCA rankings. In the men's 8K race, Patrick Corona finished 12th out of 288 runners to lead the 29th-ranked Falcons to an eighth-place finish in the 42-team event, bettering three higher-ranked squads and five that were mentioned in the national standings.
LAST TIME IN TERRE HAUTE
Riley Coates was the last Falcon to race on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course, as he capped off an impressive season with a 77th-place finish at the 2014 NCAA Championships (10K, 31:20.3).
THE NEXT COURSE
Select Falcons will compete in the Air Force Open on Saturday, Oct. 22, while the conference contingent prepares for the 2016 Mountain West Cross Country Championships in Kuna, Idaho, on Friday, Oct. 28.
Players Mentioned
