Air Force Academy
NCAA Mountain Regional
Women Shine with Third-Place Finish at Regional Meet
11/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Nov. 11, 2016
LOGAN, Utah -- Highlighted by top-four individual finishes from junior Carina Gillespie and sophomore Jaci Smith, the 29th-ranked Air Force women's cross country captured a program-best third-place finish at the NCAA Mountain Regional, which was held today (Nov. 11) in Logan, Utah. The men, who were receiving votes in the latest national poll, finished seventh in their first 10K of the year.
Gillespie clocked a career-best time of 20:17.80 -- the fourth-fastest 6K time in program history -- to finish third out of 135 total runners at the Steve and Dona Reeder Cross Country Course. Smith posted a career-best time of 20:19.90 -- the program's sixth-fastest time -- to finish fourth. The pair marked the first time in program history that Air Force has claimed multiple top-five finishers in the regional meet.
Senior Lindy Long earned her first top-20 finish in a regional meet, as she placed 19th in 20:43.40. Classmate Samantha Skold finished 35th in 21:13.70 and junior Katie Burnham rounded out the Falcons' scoring contingent with a 49th-place time of 21:31.70.
The women tallied 111 points to finish third in the 20-team regional meet -- a placement that not only marked the best finish in program history, but just the program's second top-five finish ever. Top-ranked Colorado tallied just 35 points to easily win the regional meet, while sixth-ranked New Mexico, the defending NCAA champion, claimed second by finishing just two points ahead of the Falcons. Air Force bettered a pair of top-20 teams, as No. 20 Utah and No. 18 BYU finished fourth (136) and fifth (146), respectively. The top-10 of the women's field was completed by Colorado State (sixth, 147), Weber State (seventh, 186), Utah State (eighth, 232), UTEP (ninth, 233) and Northern Arizona (10th, 262).
"The women were phenomenal today," head coach Ryan Cole said. "The girls have been building all season. They committed to the process of becoming an elite team over the past few years and it's been really fun watching them build momentum."
On the men's side, junior Andrew Johnston earned a top-15 finish to pace the Air Force men. Johnston, competing in the first 10K race of the season for men's cross country, clocked a career-best time of 31:16.00 to finish 14th in the 113-runner field. Senior Kyle Eller and sophomore Jacob Bilvado finished 26th (31:29.90) and 28th (31:33.10 in 10K debut), respectively, while senior Matt Dorsey posted a time of 32:10.70 to finish 48th. Junior Jimmy Shipley rounded out the Falcons' lineup of scoring runners, as he posted a time of 32:16.90 in his first 10K race to finish 52nd.
The Falcons combined for 168 points to finish seventh in the 17-team meet. Top-ranked Northern Arizona won the meet with 60 points, while second-ranked Colorado (76) and third-ranked BYU (79) finished in the order of their national rankings. No. 19 Colorado State finished fourth with 114 points, edging No. 15 UTEP (fifth, 122) by eight points. No. 24 Southern Utah registered 134 points to place sixth and the Falcons, who were receiving votes in the latest USTFCCCA poll finished seventh. The top-seven teams separated themselves from the rest of the field, as Utah State (eighth, 230), New Mexico (ninth, 237) and Weber State (10th, 266) rounded out the top 10.
"The men engaged from the outset of the race and did everything they could to compete as successfully as possible in the most competitive region in the NCAA," Cole said. "We need to continue to develop our depth if we're going to go from a bubble team to a consistent NCAA Top-20 program. Our guys are moving forward in that process."
Four additional Falcons ran in their respective events this morning, with three making their first appearance in a regional championship. Freshman Lindsey Blanks clocked a career-best time of 21:44.50 to finish 62nd in the women's 6K race, while sophomore Shanna Burns finished 77th with a personal-best time of 22:13.00. On the men's side, sophomore Nathan Thomas finished 67th in his first collegiate 10K race (32:46.80), while junior Andrew Milliron posted a career-best time of 32:59.60 to finish 73rd.
The 2016 cross country season comes to a close next Saturday (Nov. 19) at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. The official list of teams and individual qualifiers will be announced this weekend.
