Air Force Academy
Notre Dame Invitational
Falcons Have Strong Showing at Notre Dame Invitational
9/30/2016 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Sept. 30, 2016
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Backed by top-20 finishes from juniors Carina Gillespie and Andrew Johnston, the Air Force cross country team wrapped up a strong day of competition at the 61st-annual Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind., on Friday, Sept. 30. In a meet that featured a combined 24 teams listed in the weekly USTFCCCA National Rankings, the men placed ninth and the women finished 11th.
Gillespie clocked an Academy-record 5K time of 16:41.9 to finish 14th in the 184-runner field - an individual placement that was 40 spots higher than any other female runner in Academy history at that meet. Her time, which better the program's previous best time by more than nearly 30 seconds, paced the Falcons to four of the five-fastest 5K marks at the Division I level.
Senior Lindy Long moved into second on the Academy's all-time standings after clocking a time of 17:06.0 to finish 46th, while becoming just the second top-50 finisher ever at Notre Dame, behind Gillespie. Sophomore Jaci Smith clocked a time of 17:18.3 - the program's fourth-fastest time ââ'¬" to finish 64th, while senior Samantha Skold posted the fifth-fastest time - en route to a 73rd-place finish. Junior Katie Burnham, who also impacted the program's all-time standings (14th fastest time), rounded out the Falcons' scoring contingent with a 122nd-place time of 17:56.7.
With 312 points, Air Force finished 11th out of 23 teams in the Blue Race, marking the program's best finish ever at the Notre Dame Invitational. In addition, the Falcons finish was second amongst teams not listed in the most-recent USTFCCCA national standings.
Top-ranked Providence won the meet with 117 points, while No. 5 North Carolina State took second (149). Eastern Michigan, which was receiving votes in the national poll, finished third (159), while second-ranked New Mexico (fourth, 166) and unranked Baylor (fifth, 169) rounded out the top five. The remainder of the top 10 featured two ranked teams and three that were receiving votes, while the Falcons' 11th-place finish was ahead of one ranked team (No. 24 Vanderbilt, 18th) and two that were receiving votes (Texas, 16th; Weber State, 17th).
On the men's side, Johnston clocked the second-fastest five-mile time in program history (24:04.8) to finish 17th out of 202 runners. Johnston's time, which led him to the squad's best finish at that meet since 2011, paced the Falcons to four of the 10 fastest five-mile times in program history.
Sophomore Jacob Bilvado posted a five-mile debut of 24:04.8 to finish 35th, while seniors Kyle Eller and Matt Dorsey finished 57th and 58th, respectively, with matching times of 24:35.3 (personal-best for Dorsey). Junior Andrew Milliron rounded out the Falcons' list of scoring runners, as he placed 76th with a career-best time of 24:43.4 - the 12th-fastest time in program history.
Air Force tallied 242 points to finish ninth in the 25-team meet - marking the squad's first top-10 finish at Notre Dame since 2011. Like the women, the men finished second amongst teams not listed in the most current USTFCCCA National Rankings.
Mississippi, ranked 20th in this week's poll, won the meet with an 83-point performance, while 18th-ranked UTEP finished second with 99 points. Ninth-ranked Eastern Kentucky finished third with 168 points, while Providence (182, fourth), Illinois (183, fifth) and Southern Utah (187, sixth) - which were all receiving votes in the USTFCCCA standings - rounded out the top six. No. 24 Washington State finished seventh with 189 and the unranked trio from California (216), Air Force and Bradley (268) completed the top 10. With their ninth-place finish, Air Force finished ahead of 23rd-ranked NC State (11th), two squads tied for 30th in the polls - Texas (13th) and Florida State (15th) - and one - Texas A&M (14th) - that was earning votes in the national standings.
Freshman Lindsey Blanks and sophomore Shanna Burns also competed for the women's team on Friday, finishing 143rd (career-best 18:11.1) and 168th (career-best 18:31.4), respectively. On the men's side, sophomores Nathan Thomas (81st, 24:45.6), Andrew Tankersley (100th, 24:55.6), Noah Riley (108th, 25:00.9) and Nikolai Rhodes (193rd, 26:26.1) all completed their first five-mile race this afternoon.
The Falcons continue cross country action tomorrow (Oct. 1) morning, when an Academy contingent travels to Boulder, Colo., for the 31st-annual Rocky Mountain Shootout at Buffalo Ranch. The men's 8K kicks off the day at 9:00 a.m., while the women run a 5.8K race 45 minutes later.
Players Mentioned
