Ethan Ashley, David Sliwinski Lead Falcons in Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. – Headlined by top-six finishes from senior Ethan Ashley and sophomore David Sliwinski, members of the Air Force men's cross country team had an impressive outing at the Woody Greeno / Jay Dirksen Invitational this morning (Sept. 20) in Lincoln, Nebraska. With all five scoring runners placing within the top 17, the Falcons picked up a third-place finish in the team standings.

Ashley clocked an 8K time of 25:18.0 to finish fourth in an overall field of more than 300 runners at Mahoney Park Golf Course – a placement that marked the program's best individual finish at that meet since 2014 (Andrew Johnston, fourth). Sliwinski added a sixth-place time of 24:27.2 to give Air Force a pair of top-10 finishers, while fellow sophomore Alex Pinckney finished 12th in a time of 24:50.8. Junior Roman Thomas clocked a time of 25:01.2 to finish 15th, while senior Ben Scheller was right on his heels to round out the field with a 17th-place time of 25:01.6.

As a team, tallied 53 points to place third in a field that included Division I teams from Wichita State (first, 35 points), Missouri (second, 49), Creighton (eighth, 222), host Nebraska (12th, 342) and Northern Colorado (18th, 513).

"Our men took some very positive steps for the guys racing today," Ryan Cole, Air Force's director of track & field and cross country, said. "We engaged at the front right from the start and had some young guys improve substantially from their showings at this meet last year. That bodes well for our future and for our depth this season. Today was productive for our developmental group and definitely makes us excited to see what our top group can do next weekend."

Several other Falcons also completed the 8K circuit at Mahoney Park on Saturday – and all placed within the top 65 of the overall field. Senior Ashton Higgerson clocked a 25th-place time of 25:15.9, while junior Joseph White and freshman Christopher Creedon finished 36th (25:34.6) and 37th (25:35.8), respectively. Freshman Will Bradbury clocked an 8K debut of 25:52.7 to finish 43rd, while sophomore Cody Kelley (62nd, 26:01.0) and freshman Ryan Daly (65th, 26:03.6) rounded out the Air Force lineup.

The Falcons return to action next weekend, when they split for a pair of meets. Part the squad, including the 24th-ranked men, will travel to Columbia, Mo. – site of this year's NCAA Cross Country Championships – for the Gans Creek Invitational, while the rest of the team will stay in Colorado Springs for the Ted Castenada Invitational at Monument Valley Park.

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