Ella Johnson, Jayden Nats Pace Falcons at AFXC Classic

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Air Force cross country team kicked off the 2025 season this morning (Aug 29) hosting the AFXC Classic in Colorado Springs.

"Today was a very constructive start for both the men and women," Ryan Cole, Air Force's director of track & field and cross country, said. "When compared to past years, both groups had really solid showing and strong depth today. There are also a few obvious areas where we feel we can continue to make significant progress as the season continues, but very pleased with our start."

Crossing the finish line in a time of 16:52.8, junior Ella Johnson registered the program's fastest three-mile time at Monument Valley Park – taking six seconds off the mark Maria Mettler had held since 2019. Senior India Jones finished second with a time of 17:06.6, while junior Anna Harden (17:11.3), senior Ricky Fetterolf (18:00.2) and junior Rachel Fereday (18:01.0) rounded out the top five

The men also reset the program's course record, with senior Jayden Nats led a large contingent of Falcons to finish under the previous best time. Finishing in a time of 24:38.3, Nats became the first Falcon to surpass the 25-minute mark for the five-mile circuit around MVP. Just 0.2 second separated junior Josh Razo (25:09.5) and senior Tanner Lindahl (25.09.7), while juniors Patrick Lawson and Dominykas Remeikis rounded out the top five, finishing fourth (25:20.0) and fifth (25:21.7), respectively.

The Falcons return to action on Saturday, Sept. 20, when they travel to Lincoln, Neb., for the Woody Greeno / Jay Dirksen Invitational.

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