Monday, February 1
Las Vegas, NV
9:00 am MT
Air Force Academy
at
Silver State Challenge
Photo by: Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports
Mahala Norris Wins Silver State Challenge
2/1/2021 1:40:00 PM | Cross Country
Norris won the season-opening 6K event by more than eight seconds.
NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Air Force senior Mahala Norris easily won the women's 6K race this morning (Feb. 1), as the 27th-ranked Air Force cross country team kicked off its delayed 2020 season at the Silver State Collegiate Challenge in North Las Vegas.
Clocking a time of 20:37.8 to better the field of 41 by more than eight seconds, Norris paced a young Air Force scoring squad to five top-20 placements and a third-place finish in the overall team standings. Freshman Rebecca Wusinich joined Norris in the top 10 after clocking a 6K time of 21:49.9 in her collegiate debut (10th), while sophomore Maddie Edwards finished right behind (11th) with a time of 21:55.1. Sophomore Stephanie Gregersen, in her first collegiate race, posted a time of 22:02.8 to finish 15th and freshman Rachel Crytser rounded out the Falcons' scoring finishers with a 17th-place debut of 22:08.1.
The women, ranked 27th in latest USTFCCCA standings, accounted for 54 points to finish third in the meet's Blue Race. Utah Valley won the race with 36 points, while runners from 13th-ranked Boise State tallied 42 points to place just ahead of the Falcons. Fellow Mountain West opponent San Diego State finished fourth with 88 points, while Grand Canyon rounded out the team standings with 141 points.
On the men's side, sophomore Sam Gilman paced the Falcons to five top-25 finishes in a race that included runners from six ranked programs, as he clocked a time of 23:34.6 – the program's fourth-fastest 8K at any elevation – to finish 12th in the field of 48. Senior Alec Schrank added a personal-best time of 23:46.4 to place 17th, while freshman Luke Combs (debut 23:46.2), sophomore Scott Maison (career-best 23:46.5) and classmate Ryan Johnson (career-best 23:46.7) crossed the finish line in consecutive spots (20-21-22) to help Air Force's five scoring finishers to a narrow 0:12 spread.
The 27th-ranked men tallied 92 points to finish fifth against a field of nationally-ranked teams in the Yellow "Main Event" Race. Second-ranked BYU edged top-ranked Northern Arizona 49-54 for first, while just 17 points separated the rest of the top five – No. 18 Washington (75), No. 4 Notre Dame (80) and No. 27 Air Force (92). The Falcons easily distanced themselves from the remaining teams, including 24th-ranked Weber State (sixth, 158) and a Boise State team (seventh, 179) that is receiving votes.
"It was great to have the teams back competing on the cross country course today," head coach Ryan Cole said. "The men had a very strong start to the season and we had a lot of newcomers on the women's team gain racing experience. On both sides, we have a ways to go before we are the teams we know we're capable of being. But there were a lot of positives to take away from today."
Several other Falcons also ran the course today in North Las Vegas. Freshmen Caitlin McConnell and Rayna Fruchey added two additional top-25 finishes in the women's race, as they placed 21st (22:20.0) and 25th (22:29.9), respectively, in their first collegiate cross country race, while senior Scott Johnson finished 31st (24:04.0) and junior Will Kitzhaber placed 33rd (24:08.6) in the men's race. In addition, senior Drew Lester clocked a time of 24:38.8 to finish eighth out of 35 runners in the men's unattached Blue Race.
The Falcons return to Craig Ranch Regional Park next month (March 5) for the Mountain West Cross Country Championships.
Clocking a time of 20:37.8 to better the field of 41 by more than eight seconds, Norris paced a young Air Force scoring squad to five top-20 placements and a third-place finish in the overall team standings. Freshman Rebecca Wusinich joined Norris in the top 10 after clocking a 6K time of 21:49.9 in her collegiate debut (10th), while sophomore Maddie Edwards finished right behind (11th) with a time of 21:55.1. Sophomore Stephanie Gregersen, in her first collegiate race, posted a time of 22:02.8 to finish 15th and freshman Rachel Crytser rounded out the Falcons' scoring finishers with a 17th-place debut of 22:08.1.
The women, ranked 27th in latest USTFCCCA standings, accounted for 54 points to finish third in the meet's Blue Race. Utah Valley won the race with 36 points, while runners from 13th-ranked Boise State tallied 42 points to place just ahead of the Falcons. Fellow Mountain West opponent San Diego State finished fourth with 88 points, while Grand Canyon rounded out the team standings with 141 points.
On the men's side, sophomore Sam Gilman paced the Falcons to five top-25 finishes in a race that included runners from six ranked programs, as he clocked a time of 23:34.6 – the program's fourth-fastest 8K at any elevation – to finish 12th in the field of 48. Senior Alec Schrank added a personal-best time of 23:46.4 to place 17th, while freshman Luke Combs (debut 23:46.2), sophomore Scott Maison (career-best 23:46.5) and classmate Ryan Johnson (career-best 23:46.7) crossed the finish line in consecutive spots (20-21-22) to help Air Force's five scoring finishers to a narrow 0:12 spread.
The 27th-ranked men tallied 92 points to finish fifth against a field of nationally-ranked teams in the Yellow "Main Event" Race. Second-ranked BYU edged top-ranked Northern Arizona 49-54 for first, while just 17 points separated the rest of the top five – No. 18 Washington (75), No. 4 Notre Dame (80) and No. 27 Air Force (92). The Falcons easily distanced themselves from the remaining teams, including 24th-ranked Weber State (sixth, 158) and a Boise State team (seventh, 179) that is receiving votes.
"It was great to have the teams back competing on the cross country course today," head coach Ryan Cole said. "The men had a very strong start to the season and we had a lot of newcomers on the women's team gain racing experience. On both sides, we have a ways to go before we are the teams we know we're capable of being. But there were a lot of positives to take away from today."
Several other Falcons also ran the course today in North Las Vegas. Freshmen Caitlin McConnell and Rayna Fruchey added two additional top-25 finishes in the women's race, as they placed 21st (22:20.0) and 25th (22:29.9), respectively, in their first collegiate cross country race, while senior Scott Johnson finished 31st (24:04.0) and junior Will Kitzhaber placed 33rd (24:08.6) in the men's race. In addition, senior Drew Lester clocked a time of 24:38.8 to finish eighth out of 35 runners in the men's unattached Blue Race.
The Falcons return to Craig Ranch Regional Park next month (March 5) for the Mountain West Cross Country Championships.
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