Air Force Academy
CSU Invitational
Carina Gillespie, Air Force Women Win CSU Invitational
9/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Sept. 3, 2016
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- Backed by a first-place finish from junior Carina Gillespie, the Air Force women's cross country team claimed the team title at the Colorado State Invitational, which was held on Friday, September 2, on the fields around Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins.
Gillespie clocked a career-best time of 17:33 -- the fifth-fastest 5K in program history -- to win the 93-runner event by two seconds. Gillespie, the second straight Air Force runner to capture the women's title at the season-opening CSU Invitational, paced the Falcons' five scoring runners to top 12 finishes in the Division I field.
Sophomore Jaci Smith posted a career-best time of 17:55 -- the program's ninth-fastest 5K -- to place fifth in the Division I field, while senior Samantha Skold and junior Katie Burnham finished seventh (18:13) and 10th (18:28), respectively. Senior Lindy Long, who finished just one second behind Burnham (18:29), rounded out Air Force's scoring contingent in 12th.
The women won the Division I meet, bettering a field that included second-ranked Colorado and two conference teams.
Several members of the freshmen class also took part in the women's 5K race. Lindsey Blanks finished 27th in a debut of 19:25, while Swathi Samuel and Cassidy Osgood finished 34th (19:55) and 35th (19:57), respectively. Julie Culbertson clocked a 39th-place time of 20:46 and Regan Hefner completed the Air Force lineup with a 43rd-place time of 23:15.
"Overall, our women had a solid day, but we have reason to believe we'll be better," head coach Ryan Cole said. "Carina looked very effortless in her win, Jaci ran very controlled and Sam cut her run down really well. There were a lot of positives to take away."
On the men's side, top-10 finishes from senior Matt Dorsey, junior Andrew Johnston and senior Kyle Eller paced Air Force to a runner-up finish behind fifth-ranked Colorado and victories over two Mountain West foes. The trio clocked matching 5K times of 15:16 to finish seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively, in the field, while sophomores Nathan Thomas (14th, career-best 15:19) and Noah Riley (19th, career-best 15:26) added top-20 DI times to round out the Falcons' list of scoring runners.
Twenty-three additional members of the Air Force men's team competed at the CSU Invitational, with eight earning finishes within the top half of the Division I field. Sophomore Jacob Bilvado clocked a career-best 15:29 to finish 20th, while classmate Nikolai Rhodes placed 22nd with a personal-best time of 15:34. Junior Jimmy Shipley and sophomore Tim Ward clocked matching times of 15:35 (personal-bests for both) to finish 23rd and 24th, respectively. Senior Jason Engel finished 26th with a time of 15:38, while sophomore Andrew Tankersley finished 27th (career-best 15:41), freshman Jack Bluth placed 30th (debut 15:47) and junior Conner Wilburn finished 31st (personal-best 15:50).
Freshman Adam Haynes clocked a debut time of 15:54 to finish 34th, while junior Anthony Bucci and junior Andrew Milliron finished 36th (debut 15:55) and 37th (15:56), respectively. Freshman Patrick Sullivan (39th, debut 16:03), sophomore Nic Cheuvront (40th, career-best 16:05) and classmate John Quinn (41st, personal-best 16:08) posted consecutive DI finishes, while sophomore Josh Wojciechowski and freshman Trevor Whiteside finished 46th and 47th, respectively, with matching debut times of 16:28. Freshman Jordan Armstrong finished just one second back (16:29, 49th), while junior Zac Petrie (53rd, 16:36) and freshmen Marshall Wheeler (54th, 16:44), Justin Weber (58th, 16:58), Mati Szelazek (61st, 17:25), Andrew Boebinger (62nd, 17:27) and Austin Kintz (64th, 17:36) completed the Falcons' lineup during their first collegiate cross country race.
"Our front group had really nice relaxation throughout the run," Cole added. "Some of our sophomores showed great progress from last year, which is really encouraging. But, overall, we have work to do if we want to be an elite team by the end of the season."
The Falcons return to action on Saturday, Sept. 17, when they travel to Lincoln, Neb., for the Woody Greeno Invitational.
Players Mentioned
