Air Force Men, Women Finish Third at Mountain West Championships

FRESNO, Calif. – Backed by four all-conference runners – included a pair of first-team honorees, the Air Force cross country team completed a sweep of third-place finishes at the 2025 Credit Union 1 Mountain West Championships, which were held this morning (Oct. 31) in Fresno.

Senior India Jones and junior Ella Johnson headlined the morning at Woodward Park, collecting first-team all-conference honors. The pair finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in the 107-runner event – marking the first time since 2019 that the women have landed multiple runners on the conference's first team. Jones clocked a career-best 6K of 20:02.3 – the second-fastest time by an Air Force runner at a Mountain West Championship race – for her first all-MW honor, while Johnson dropped her overall time down to 20:03.7 to claim her first all-conference accolade.

Senior Ricky Fetterolf was the women's No. 3 finisher on Friday, placing 31st behind a time of 21:02.3. Junior Anna Harden finished just three spots back in 34th (21:09.4), while classmate Scarlet Fetterolf posted a time of 21:18.2 to finish 39th in her first race of the season to complete the Falcons' scoring lineup.

The women earned 103 points to finish third in the 12-team championship and match its best finish in six years. New Mexico claimed its 17th title in 18 years with a 24-point score, while Boise State placed second with 41 points. Air Force (103) edged Utah State (104) by one point as the pair finished third and fourth, respectively, and Colorado State rounded out the top five with 110 points.

On the men's side, seniors Jayden Nats and Zach Ayers earned second-team all-conference honors after placing 10th and 14th, respectively, in the 91-man championship final. Nats clocked a program-record 8K time of 23:11.1 to capture his first all-Mountain West award, while Ayers nabbed all-conference honors for the second-straight year after finishing in a time of 23:21.3 – the second-fastest 8K in Academy history.

Ayers' time led a pack of Falcons across the finish line, as Air Force accounted for six-straight finishes in a span of less than eight seconds. Sophomore Junior Allen finished 15th with a time of 23:26.9, while junior Dominykas Remeikis and sophomore Saketh Rudraraju rounded out the Falcons' list of scoring finishers by placing 16th (23:26.9) and 17th (23:27.6), respectively. Air Force's run of top 20 finishers continued with junior Patrick Lawson (18th, 23:28.3) and sophomore Matthew Edwards (19th, 23:29.2), while senior Ethan Ashley was just two spots back (21st) after clocking in at 23:32.8.

The men accounted for 72 points to tie with Boise State for the second-highest score of the day, before ultimately finishing third based on a head-to-head matchup between the scoring finishers (3-2). New Mexico won its third-straight title with 26 points, while the Broncos and Falcons accounted for matching 72-point totals, Wyoming finished fourth with 87 points, and Utah State rounded out the top-five of the 10-team championship race with 117 points.

The Falcons return to action on Nov. 14, when they travel to Salt Lake City for the NCAA Mountain Regional.

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