Friday, March 29
Stanford, CA
11:30 am MT
Air Force Academy
at
Stanford Invitational
Photo by: Tyler Schank, NCAA Photos
10,000-Meter Trio Shines at Stanford Invitational
3/30/2024 12:27:00 AM | Track and Field
STANFORD, Calif. -- Air Force's trio of 10,000-meter runners shined under the lights of Cobb Track late Friday (March 29) night, as members of the distance squad wrapped up a full day of action at the Stanford Invitational and Mike Fanelli Track Classic in the Bay Area. Headlined by the second-fastest men's time in program history by senior Luke Combs, all three of the Falcons' 10K competitors accounted for Air Force Top 10 marks.
Combs, who garnered All-America status following a cross country 10K in the fall, raced his first track event at that distance since 2021 – an absence compounded by missing the entire 2022 season with injury. The senior finished the Invitational section in a time of 28:24.84 – a finish that placed him in the top half of the field and vaulted him 23 spots to No. 2 on the Academy's all-time list.
Sophomore India Jones and junior Tiaree Towler improved the women's 10,000-meter standings in the next race. Running down one of the meet's main leaders during the final lap, Jones finished second in the 31-runner section behind a career-best time of 33:43.06 – the fourth-fastest time in Academy history and a finish that reset Jaci Smith's 2017 Air Force Sophomore Class Record by 11 seconds. Towler deleted more than two minutes from her previous best to cross the finish line in 35:23.01 and move up six spots to No. 10 on the Academy's all-time standings.
STANFORD INVITATIONAL
Junior Jason Renze joined the 10K trio in updating the Air Force Record Book on Friday, as he used the fifth-fastest steeplechase time in Academy history to win the meet.Taking over the lead with a lap-and-a-half remaining, Renze cruised to the win with a career-best 8:46.22 finish.
Classmate Rachel Crytser finished seventh in the women's steeplechase following a season-opening time of 10:22.21, while fellow junior Halle Hamilton opened her outdoor season with a 16:22.81 finish in the 5000-meter run (16th). Senior Jett Knight, who competed in the morning session, finished fourth out of 20 runners in his section of the 5000-meter run.
MIKE FANELLI TRACK CLASSIC
Two freshmen debuted on the Academy's all-time standings in the 5000-meter run at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic in Hayward, as Anna Harden and Ella Johnson posted Air Force Top 25 times during the respective races around the track at Chabot College.
Harden initially debuted at No. 20 on the program's all-time standings following a time of 17:01.93 in her 5000-meter section, but finished the night at No. 21 after Johnson ran a 16:58.88 (No. 19 all-time) in the next race. Junior Ally Peterson, running in the same section as Harden, used a season-opening 16:45.92 finish to place second in her section – and second in the full 157-runner field, while Johnson and Harden finished 13th and 15th, respectively, overall.
On the men's side, sophomore Zach Ayers finished second in his section of 21 runners, clocking a career-best 14:07.44 to nearly run down the section winner at the line, while classmate Jayden Nats finished seventh in the same section with a debut of 14:16.89. In the Falcons' only non-5K at the meet, senior Rebecca Wusinich clocked a 4:38.94 performance in the 1500-meter run to finish sixth in her section and 14th in the full 183-runner event.
While the Falcons' California contingent has just one race on the schedule for tomorrow (March 30) at Stanford, the remainder of the team will wrap up their time in Texas with the final rounds of competition at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays and the Bobcat Invitational.
/Combs, who garnered All-America status following a cross country 10K in the fall, raced his first track event at that distance since 2021 – an absence compounded by missing the entire 2022 season with injury. The senior finished the Invitational section in a time of 28:24.84 – a finish that placed him in the top half of the field and vaulted him 23 spots to No. 2 on the Academy's all-time list.
Sophomore India Jones and junior Tiaree Towler improved the women's 10,000-meter standings in the next race. Running down one of the meet's main leaders during the final lap, Jones finished second in the 31-runner section behind a career-best time of 33:43.06 – the fourth-fastest time in Academy history and a finish that reset Jaci Smith's 2017 Air Force Sophomore Class Record by 11 seconds. Towler deleted more than two minutes from her previous best to cross the finish line in 35:23.01 and move up six spots to No. 10 on the Academy's all-time standings.
| AIR FORCE TOP 10 MARKS |
| No. 2 – Luke Combs, Men's 10,000-Meter Run (28:24.84) |
| No. 4 – India Jones, Women's 10,000-Meter Run (33:43.06) |
| No. 5 – Jason Renze, Men's 3000-Meter Steeplechase (8:46.22) |
| No. 10 – Tiaree Towler, Women's 10,000-Meter Run (35:23.01) |
STANFORD INVITATIONAL
Junior Jason Renze joined the 10K trio in updating the Air Force Record Book on Friday, as he used the fifth-fastest steeplechase time in Academy history to win the meet.Taking over the lead with a lap-and-a-half remaining, Renze cruised to the win with a career-best 8:46.22 finish.
Classmate Rachel Crytser finished seventh in the women's steeplechase following a season-opening time of 10:22.21, while fellow junior Halle Hamilton opened her outdoor season with a 16:22.81 finish in the 5000-meter run (16th). Senior Jett Knight, who competed in the morning session, finished fourth out of 20 runners in his section of the 5000-meter run.
MIKE FANELLI TRACK CLASSIC
Two freshmen debuted on the Academy's all-time standings in the 5000-meter run at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic in Hayward, as Anna Harden and Ella Johnson posted Air Force Top 25 times during the respective races around the track at Chabot College.
Harden initially debuted at No. 20 on the program's all-time standings following a time of 17:01.93 in her 5000-meter section, but finished the night at No. 21 after Johnson ran a 16:58.88 (No. 19 all-time) in the next race. Junior Ally Peterson, running in the same section as Harden, used a season-opening 16:45.92 finish to place second in her section – and second in the full 157-runner field, while Johnson and Harden finished 13th and 15th, respectively, overall.
On the men's side, sophomore Zach Ayers finished second in his section of 21 runners, clocking a career-best 14:07.44 to nearly run down the section winner at the line, while classmate Jayden Nats finished seventh in the same section with a debut of 14:16.89. In the Falcons' only non-5K at the meet, senior Rebecca Wusinich clocked a 4:38.94 performance in the 1500-meter run to finish sixth in her section and 14th in the full 183-runner event.
While the Falcons' California contingent has just one race on the schedule for tomorrow (March 30) at Stanford, the remainder of the team will wrap up their time in Texas with the final rounds of competition at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays and the Bobcat Invitational.
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