Air Force Academy
Pre-Nationals
Falcons Earn Top-10 Team Finishes at Pre-Nats
10/15/2016 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 15, 2016
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. ââ'¬" The Air Force cross country team had a strong showing at the Pre-National Invitational this morning (Oct. 15) in Terre Haute, Ind., as both the men and women earned top-10 finishes in the prestigious Blue Race. With both squads posting the highest finishes of teams not listed in the latest national rankings, the women earned their first top-10 finish ever at Pre-Nats and the men posted their best team finish since 2004.
Clocking a career-best time of 20:29.3, junior Carina Gillespie finished 14th in a 6K race that included 285 runners and 15 nationally-mentioned programs. With that time, Gillespie deleted 22 seconds from her previous best mark and moved into a tie for fourth on the program's Division I 8K standings.
Air Force's top four finishers all placed within the top third of the overall field, with three earning placements within the top 60. Sophomore Jaci Smith clocked a personal-best time of 20:53.2 to finish 40th in her first 6K since debuting at that distance in last year's Pre-Nationals meet, while seniors Lindy Long and Samantha Skold placed 60th (21:06.1) and 91st (21:20.8), respectively, in their first 6K races of the season. Junior Katie Burnham rounded out the Falcons' contingent of scoring runners, as she finished 199th with a time of 22:12.0.
Air Force tallied 404 points to finish 10th in the 42-team event ââ'¬" the highest finish by a team not currently listed in the USTFCCCA National Rankings and a placement that was ahead of one ranked team and five squads receiving votes in the most recent standings.
Second-ranked Colorado won the 2016 meet with 93 points, while ninth-ranked Oregon (154), 13th-ranked Michigan (179), fifth-ranked Portland (196) and 12th-ranked Arkansas (225) rounded out the top five. Seventh-ranked Stanford (229) and 16th-ranked Eastern Michigan (255) placed sixth and seventh, respectively, while two programs receiving votes in the weekly poll (California, 330; Mississippi State, 362) ââ'¬" and Air Force completed the top 10.
In his first 8K of the season, junior Andrew Johnston clocked a time of 24:36.3 to finish 33rd out of 264 runners. Johnston was one of three top-50 finishers for Air Force, as senior Kyle Eller and sophomore Jacob Bilvado finished 44th (24:47.3) and 45th (career-best 24:48.2), respectively. Sophomore Andrew Tankersley posted a personal-best time of 25:03.8 to finish 71st, while senior Matt Dorsey wrapped up the Falcons' scoring lineup with an 81st-place time of 25:08.6.
With a spread of just 32 seconds, the Falcons (272 points) finished seventh out of 40 teams ââ'¬" earning the highest finish amongst the 28 non-ranked squads in the Blue Race. Air Force, which posted its best team finish at the Pre-National meet since 2004, finished ahead of two top-15 teams and three that were receiving votes in the USTFCCCA national rankings.
Fourth-ranked Oregon won the meet with 85 points, while fifth-ranked Arkansas and sixth-ranked Colorado finished second (110) and third (124), respectively. Michigan, ranked 20th in the latest rankings, finished fourth with 200 points, while just three points separated 13th-ranked Indiana (fifth, 255) and 12th-ranked UTEP (sixth, 258). Air Force added a sub-300 total (272) to take seventh, while unranked Bradley and San Francisco placed eighth (309) and ninth (323), respectively. California, which was receiving votes in the national poll, rounded out the top 10 with a 331-point total.
"The girls had a very strong day," head coach Ryan Cole said. "Out top four ran very composed races and we have a great opportunity to close the gap from four-to-seven, which will help our team over the rest of the season. The men competed really well as a unit today. We were a little too far back off the start, but it's a big field. The guys kept their poise and moved through the field really well."
In addition to the scoring runners, freshman Lindsey Blanks and sophomore Shanna Burns also competed in the women's race, while junior Andrew Milliron and sophomore Nathan Thomas ran in the men's event. Blanks clocked a time of 23:13.4 (203rd) in her first collegiate 6K, while Burns recorded a career-best time of 23:01.5 (252nd). Milliron posted his fastest 8K of the season (25:11.3) to finish 87th and Thomas rounded out the Falcons' list of competitors with a career-best time of 25:20.3 (107th).
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
