Saturday, November 23
Terre Haute, IN
9:15 am MT
Air Force Academy
at
NCAA Championships
Photo by: Marty France
12th-Ranked Falcons Head to NCAA Cross Country Championships
11/20/2019 4:57:00 PM | Cross Country
The women will run at 11:15 a.m. (ET) on Saturday, Nov. 23, in Terre Haute, Ind.
The cross country season comes to a close this weekend, as Air Force's 12th-ranked women travel to Terre Haute, Ind., for the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 23.
MEET INFORMATION
The 2019 national meet will take place throughout LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course. The women's 6K championship race will kick off the day at 11:15 a.m. (ET), while the men's 10K will follow one hour later (12:15 p.m.). Tickets are $10 per person (cash only) and can be purchased at the course on Saturday. Live stats will be available via Prime Time Timing, while FloTrack will broadcast the event through their FloPro subscription service (direct links to both can be found on the team's schedule page at GoAirForceFalcons.com).
WEATHER WATCH
Terre Haute is currently forecasted to be cloudy, with a chance of rain, a high of 40 and a low of 26.
THE STARTING LINE
Lindsey Blanks, Teri Brady, Maddie Edwards, Mikayla Gallagher, Maria Mettler, Mahala Norris and Swathi Samuel are scheduled to run in the NCAA Cross Country Championships, while Jenna Kill will serve as the team's alternate.
WHERE TO FIND THEM
The women are scheduled to begin their 6K championship race out of Box 10.
WHO'S WHO
Thirty-one teams were selected into both the men's and women's championship races. The top two teams from each of the nine regional meets earned an automatic bid into the NCAA meet, while 13 additional teams earned at-large selections. Thirty-eight individuals were also selected into each championship race, after placing within the top 25 of their region and being one of the top four finishers not on an advancing team.
LET'S MEET THE WOMEN'S FIELD
The full women's field includes automatic qualifiers from Arkansas (No. 1), Stanford (2), BYU (3), Washington (4), Michigan State (5), NC State (6), New Mexico (7), Michigan (8), Florida State (9), Furman (15), Penn State (16), Illinois (21), Villanova (22), Ole Miss (23), Tulsa (24), Harvard (25), Texas (29) and Cornell (30), as well as at-large squads from Colorado (10), Wisconsin (11), Air Force (12), Boise State (13), Utah (14), Ohio State (17), Oregon (18), Notre Dame (19), Northern Arizona (20), Indiana (26), Minnesota (27), Columbia (28) and Boston College (RV).
AIR FORCE ALL-AMERICANS
A total of 13 Falcons have captured All-America honors (16 occurrences) at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, while 14 women earned All-America status at the DII and AIAW levels (18 occurrences). The most recent Air Force All-American is Jaci Smith, who garnered the distinction last year.
HISTORY 101
The 2019 season marks just the second time that Air Force has sent a full women's squad to the NCAA Cross Country Championships at the Division I level, with the 2016 squad becoming the Academy's first team to qualify. Hannah Everson became the program's first DI All-American in 2015, although Air Force was a longtime participant at the DII championships, accounting for three runner-up team finishes, one individual national champion (Callie Calhoun, 1990) and 18 All-America nods.
DID YOU KNOW?
Lindsey Blanks was a member of the first Air Force team to compete at the NCAA Division I Championships. As a freshman, she was the No. 5 runner on the 2016 squad that earned the program's first-ever team bid to the national meet – a competition also contested in Terre Haute – and is just the second Falcon in Air Force's DI history to make multiple trips to the NCAA Championship meet.
BY THE NUMBERS
With the addition of the 2019 team, the Air Force women have been represented by at least one runner at the national meet during each of the last five years – after sending just one runner in the previous 19 years.
WOMEN VAULT TO PROGRAM-BEST RANKING IN USTFCCCA POLL
Air Force jumped up three spots to No. 12 in the Nov. 18 edition of the NCAA Division I Cross Country Coaches' Poll – the highest ranking in program history. The Falcons have been listed among the nation's top 15 for the last three polls, making the first time the Falcons have spent multiple weeks among the top half of the national poll.
METTLER, NORRIS EARN ALL-REGION ACCOLADES
Maria Mettler and Mahala Norris, who both finished within the top 10 of the NCAA Mountain Regional on Nov. 15, were awarded all-region status by the USTFCCCA on Nov. 18. It is the second all-region award for Mettler, who clocked the second-fastest regional 6K in program history (20:08.1), to finish eighth in the 130-runner field, and the first for Norris, whose 10th-place time of 20:09.5 is the Academy's third-fastest regional time.
THE NEXT COURSE
Although the cross country season will come to a close this weekend, the Falcons return to action next month with the start of the indoor track and field season. Air Force will host its annual Holiday Open on Friday, Dec. 6, at the Cadet Field House Indoor Track.
MEET INFORMATION
The 2019 national meet will take place throughout LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course. The women's 6K championship race will kick off the day at 11:15 a.m. (ET), while the men's 10K will follow one hour later (12:15 p.m.). Tickets are $10 per person (cash only) and can be purchased at the course on Saturday. Live stats will be available via Prime Time Timing, while FloTrack will broadcast the event through their FloPro subscription service (direct links to both can be found on the team's schedule page at GoAirForceFalcons.com).
WEATHER WATCH
Terre Haute is currently forecasted to be cloudy, with a chance of rain, a high of 40 and a low of 26.
THE STARTING LINE
Lindsey Blanks, Teri Brady, Maddie Edwards, Mikayla Gallagher, Maria Mettler, Mahala Norris and Swathi Samuel are scheduled to run in the NCAA Cross Country Championships, while Jenna Kill will serve as the team's alternate.
WHERE TO FIND THEM
The women are scheduled to begin their 6K championship race out of Box 10.
WHO'S WHO
Thirty-one teams were selected into both the men's and women's championship races. The top two teams from each of the nine regional meets earned an automatic bid into the NCAA meet, while 13 additional teams earned at-large selections. Thirty-eight individuals were also selected into each championship race, after placing within the top 25 of their region and being one of the top four finishers not on an advancing team.
LET'S MEET THE WOMEN'S FIELD
The full women's field includes automatic qualifiers from Arkansas (No. 1), Stanford (2), BYU (3), Washington (4), Michigan State (5), NC State (6), New Mexico (7), Michigan (8), Florida State (9), Furman (15), Penn State (16), Illinois (21), Villanova (22), Ole Miss (23), Tulsa (24), Harvard (25), Texas (29) and Cornell (30), as well as at-large squads from Colorado (10), Wisconsin (11), Air Force (12), Boise State (13), Utah (14), Ohio State (17), Oregon (18), Notre Dame (19), Northern Arizona (20), Indiana (26), Minnesota (27), Columbia (28) and Boston College (RV).
AIR FORCE ALL-AMERICANS
A total of 13 Falcons have captured All-America honors (16 occurrences) at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, while 14 women earned All-America status at the DII and AIAW levels (18 occurrences). The most recent Air Force All-American is Jaci Smith, who garnered the distinction last year.
HISTORY 101
The 2019 season marks just the second time that Air Force has sent a full women's squad to the NCAA Cross Country Championships at the Division I level, with the 2016 squad becoming the Academy's first team to qualify. Hannah Everson became the program's first DI All-American in 2015, although Air Force was a longtime participant at the DII championships, accounting for three runner-up team finishes, one individual national champion (Callie Calhoun, 1990) and 18 All-America nods.
DID YOU KNOW?
Lindsey Blanks was a member of the first Air Force team to compete at the NCAA Division I Championships. As a freshman, she was the No. 5 runner on the 2016 squad that earned the program's first-ever team bid to the national meet – a competition also contested in Terre Haute – and is just the second Falcon in Air Force's DI history to make multiple trips to the NCAA Championship meet.
BY THE NUMBERS
With the addition of the 2019 team, the Air Force women have been represented by at least one runner at the national meet during each of the last five years – after sending just one runner in the previous 19 years.
WOMEN VAULT TO PROGRAM-BEST RANKING IN USTFCCCA POLL
Air Force jumped up three spots to No. 12 in the Nov. 18 edition of the NCAA Division I Cross Country Coaches' Poll – the highest ranking in program history. The Falcons have been listed among the nation's top 15 for the last three polls, making the first time the Falcons have spent multiple weeks among the top half of the national poll.
METTLER, NORRIS EARN ALL-REGION ACCOLADES
Maria Mettler and Mahala Norris, who both finished within the top 10 of the NCAA Mountain Regional on Nov. 15, were awarded all-region status by the USTFCCCA on Nov. 18. It is the second all-region award for Mettler, who clocked the second-fastest regional 6K in program history (20:08.1), to finish eighth in the 130-runner field, and the first for Norris, whose 10th-place time of 20:09.5 is the Academy's third-fastest regional time.
THE NEXT COURSE
Although the cross country season will come to a close this weekend, the Falcons return to action next month with the start of the indoor track and field season. Air Force will host its annual Holiday Open on Friday, Dec. 6, at the Cadet Field House Indoor Track.
Players Mentioned
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
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