Distance Squad Shines at Stanford Invitational

STANFORD, Calif. – Three of the seven-fastest 10,000-meter times in Academy history capped an exciting 12 hours of action for the Air Force distance squad on April 1, as they completed an impressive day of competition at the Stanford Invitational. The Falcons' contingent at Cobb Track made nine improvements to the program's all-time standings – including seven Top 10 marks, while setting three Class Records and earning one first-place finish.

In his first-ever outdoor race at the collegiate level, senior Ryan Ioanidis became just the third Falcon to break 29 minutes in the 10,000-meter run. Competing in the Invitational section, Ioanidis posted a debut time of 28:44.03 to finish 20th in the elite field and vault into second on the Academy's all-time standings. The program's number of sub-29 runners expanded by one in the very next section, as fellow senior Will Kitzhaber clocked a time of 28:53.16 – a personal improvement of nearly 40 seconds – to finish third out of 32 runners and move into third on Air Force's all-time standings. Junior Ethan Marshall joined Kitzhaber in the top 10 of that race, as he posted an event debut of 29:12.95 – the seventh-fastest time in Air Force history – to finish 10th in the section. With that time, Marshall also took nearly a second off the program's five-year-old Junior Class Record.

Freshman Bryce Lentz captured a first-place finish for the Falcons, as he won his debut in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 8:49.11 – the sixth-fastest time in Air Force history. Lentz, who picked his way through the field on the penultimate lap, took the lead before the final water jump and held off a late charge by BYU to earn first-place honors by 0.15 seconds. In addition to debuting on the all-time standings, Lentz also deleted 16 seconds from the program's four-year-old Freshman Class Record.

Sophomore Luke Combs headlined a trio that accounted for Air Force Top 12 times in the 5000-meter run – the fourth addition of the day in that event (read here). Combs knocked nearly 11 seconds from his previous best time, as he posted a time of 13:53.43 – the seventh-fastest mark in Academy history – to finish within the top half of his section (13th), while classmate Eli Bennett and junior Scott Maison moved into the program's top 12 after finishing fifth (debut 14:01.19, No. 11 all-time) and sixth (career-best 14:01.33, No. 12 all-time), respectively, in their section.

Highlighted by a Freshman Class Record at 5000 meters from Halle Hamilton, the women also made improvements to the Air Force Record Book. Hamilton raced to a 16:27.02 finish in her first event of the outdoor season to debut in seventh on the Academy's all-time standings, take more than 11 seconds off the Class Record she posted during the indoor season and finish fourth among 26 runners in her section. Sophomore Rayna Fruchey added a career-best 10:56.54 to improve her own No. 8 time in the program's 3000-meter steeplechase standings, as she deleted more than two seconds from her previous best time to place eighth in her section of the steeplechase.

Three Falcons also competed in the 1500-meter run at Stanford, with sophomore Sean Maison and senior AJ Kedge placing second (3:51.45) and third (career-best 3:51.57) in their section of the men's race. On the women's side, senior Jenna Kill added a seventh-place time of 4:35.15 in her outdoor opener.

Two of Air Force's 800-meter runners will close out the Stanford Invitational tomorrow (April 2) afternoon, while the rest of the Falcons' squad will host the Front Range Open at the Cadet Outdoor Track and Field Complex, beginning at 11:30 a.m. (MT).

Distance Squad Shines at Stanford Invitational

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Players Mentioned

Eli Bennett

Luke Combs

Rayna Fruchey

Halle Hamilton

Ryan Ioanidis

AJ Kedge

Jenna Kill

Will Kitzhaber

Bryce Lentz

Scott Maison

Sean Maison

Ethan Marshall

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