Men Take Second at Greeno/Dirksen Invitational

LINCOLN, Neb. – Junior Ryan Child paced the Air Force men's cross country team to a runner-up finish in the Division I race at the Woody Greeno/Jay Dirksen Invitational this morning (Sept. 17) in Lincoln. With four of the five scoring runners placing within the top 15, a relatively young men's squad combined for 53 points to match the team's best finish at that meet since 2016.

The men finished second among the 8 teams in the Division I "Red" Race – and fourth among all 32 teams that traversed the 8K circuit at Mahoney Golf Course. The men finished just five points behind meet winner Kansas State (48), as the top three teams – including third-place finisher Kansas (54 points) – distanced themselves from the rest of the field by more than 50 points.

Child, the No. 2 finisher amongst all DI runners, placed sixth in the full 323-athlete race, following an 8K debut of 24:27.20. Competing in the first travel meet of his career, Child earned the team's highest individual finish in Lincoln since 2014 and was one of four Falcons to place within the top 15. Freshman Max Sannes joined the junior in the top 10 with a debut of 24:30.57, while junior Jett Knight and sophomore Jason Renze finished 12th (25:46.70) and 15th (24:46.70), respectively. Freshman Will Allen rounded out the Falcons' scoring lineup with a 56th-place time of 25:38.41.

On the women's side, senior Stephanie Gregersen paced a young contingent of Falcons to a seventh-place finish in the Division I "Red" Race – a finish that was ninth among all 29 teams that competed on Saturday. Gregersen clocked a 5K time of 18:23.43 to finish 25th in the 311-runner event, while freshman Jadyn Heil finished just two spots back in 18:27.17. Gina K Lee also broke the 19-minute mark (18:57.15) during a 54th-place finish, while less than 10 seconds separated the women's final two scoring runners – Ricky Fetterolf (74th, 19:17.84) and Grace Dailey (19:26.90).

"There were a lot of positives from this race and the trip overall," Air Force Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Ryan Cole said. "But one of the most constructive aspects is the motivation that comes from getting back into racing after not really having done it in awhile for many of this group. There's no workout or team meeting that can take the place of putting on the uniform, spikes, and racing. We'll find out over the next few months just how productive this trip truly was, but there are a lot of determined cadets coming off the course today."

Six other freshmen also competed in their first road meet this morning – all placing within the top half of their respective fields. Four Falcons – Brenton Maddox (69th, 25:55.53), Ethan Ashley (76th, 26:04.37), Zach Ayers (79th, 26:06.25) and Ashton Higgerson (84th, 26:11.62) all crossed the finish line within seconds of each another in the men's 8K, while Jayden Nats rounded out the lineup with a time of 26:46.50 (116th). On the women's side, Beatrice Shea clocked a 5K time of 20:03.83 to finish 119th.

The Falcons are back in action next Saturday (Sept. 24), when another group of runners travels to Stillwater, Okla., to take on some of the nation's elite at the Cowboy Jamboree.

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