AJ Kedge, Tiaree Towler Lead Falcons at UCCS

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Senior AJ Kedge and freshman Tiaree Towler picked up third-place finishes this evening (Oct. 8) to pace the Air Force men's and women's cross country team at the UCCS Open at Cherokee Ridge Golf Club in Colorado Springs.

Kedge posted an 8K time of 25:45.1 to earn the top finish by a Division I runner – and place third in the full 75-runner field. Kedge, who only trailed a pair of runners from the No. 2 squad in NCAA Division II (Colorado Mines), led the Falcons to half of the top eight finishes. Sophomore Connor Ohlson posted a time of 25:52.3 to finish fifth, while freshman Bryce Lentz and sophomore Eli Bennett placed seventh (25:58.6) and eighth (season debut, 25:59.1), respectively. The Falcons saw their first five finishers all place within the top 12, as junior Aidan Boyle clocked a time of 26:17.1 to finish 12th to round out the group.

Air Force added three more top-20 finishes in the men's race, as senior Joseph Wittig (15th, 26:27.4) and sophomore Jett Knight (16th, 26:31.1) crossed the finish line in back-to-back spots and senior Matt Zacharias posted a season-debut of 26:53.3 to finish 20th. Junior Ben Leicht placed 23rd with a time of 27:05.3, while the freshmen trio of Walter Sellers (27th, 27:14.9), Jason Renze (33rd, 27:38.2) and Garrett Gallaher (42nd, 28:23.9) rounded out the Falcons list of runners.

In the women's 6K race, Towler clocked a time of 23:16.3 to finish third out of 66 runners – and earn the top finish by a freshman. Air Force accounted for half of the top-four places, as classmate Sydney Weaber posted a fourth-place time of 23:40.7. All five Air Force runners placed within the top 25 of the UCCS Open. Sophomore Ava Gilliana posted a 19th-place time of 25:20.6, while freshman Amalie Mills and senior Adrianna Wilder finished 22nd (25:28.6) and 23rd (25:50.0), respectively.

"This event served a few different purposes for us," head coach Ryan Cole said. "On the women's side, it was the first cross country race at altitude for most of those girls that competed. Many of our championship races are run at altitude, so building that experience will be critical for their success. Today helped that cause. On the men's side, this event helped begin clarifying our roster for the end of the season, while also giving some young guys altitude-racing experience similar to the women. There was progress on both of those fronts, particularly with how AJ led this group, as well as Aidan hanging on over a very rough last 500 meters to help win the meet for the team in a tie-breaker."

The Falcons are back in action next week, as the rest of the squad travels to Madison, Wis., for the prestigious Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational on Friday, Oct. 15.

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Players Mentioned

Eli Bennett

Aidan Boyle

Garrett Gallaher

Ava Gilliana

AJ Kedge

Jett Knight

Ben Leicht

Bryce Lentz

Amalie Mills

Jason Renze

Walter Sellers

Tiaree Towler

Sydney Weaber

Adrianna Wilder

Joseph Wittig

Matt Zacharias

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