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Air Force Men's Cross Country Team takes Eighth in the Nation
Nov. 24, 2003
The Air Force Academy's men's cross country team finished eighth Monday at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Waterloo, Iowa. It is the highest national-team finish for a Falcons' cross country team since placing second in 1967 under coach Arne Arnesen (1962-77). This year, under coach Mark Stanforth, the team finished first in the Mountain West Conference, took third in the NCAA Mountain Region and finished in the top 10 in the nation. "This is truly an incredible feat by Coach Stanforth and his runners; we are extremely proud of all of them for this outstanding team effort. A Top 10 finish in NCAA Division I competition is something each member can be proud of for the rest of their lives," Vice Athletic Director Brad DeAustin.
The team of Chris Acs, Brian Dumm, Ben Payne, Mark Walter, Abe Wengel, Jeff Gosselin and Kalib Wilkinson split the race 41 seconds apart from each other to finish the 10,000-meter race in eighth place with a team score of 327. Stanford won the meet with 24 points, followed by Wisconsin (174) and Northern Arizona (189). Mountain West Conference teams Colorado State and Brigham Young finished 18th and 19th, respectively. This is the not the first time this season that the Falcons have finished ahead of BYU and CSU. The Falcons beat BYU in the Pre-Nationals, the conference and regional meets. AFA outran CSU in the conference and region.
"We had a great year and today is a reflection of that," Stanforth commented. "The key to this race was AFA's 41 second split from first to sixth."
Acs from Niles, Ohio, was the team leader finishing the 10K with a time of 30 minutes, 22 seconds (47th place). Dumm, Fairfax, Va., followed in 71st place with a time of 30:39 and Payne who finished 78th in 30:42. AFA's fourth runner in was Mark Walter, finishing 101st with a time of 30:53. Abe Wengel finished 121st with a time of 31:02, Jeff Gosselin finished 127th (31:04) and Kalib Wilkinson was 177th with a time of 31:30 in the 250-man race. "I knew that if the men continued their progress throughout the remainder of the year, we would finish in the top five in the region and the top 10 in the nation," Stanforth said. The 2003 national meet is the Academy's third NCAA Championship appearance in the last four years. The Falcons qualified for the championships after finishing third in the NCAA Mountain Region Championships on Nov. 15. The Academy had four runners earn all-region honors. AFA finished the regular season as the Mountain West Conference champions with six runners earning all-conference and Stanforth named the MWC Coach of the Year. Air Force was ranked eighth, AFA's highest ranking ever, going into the national meet by the US Cross Country Coaches Association. The class of 2004 are going out in style with two seniors Acs and Payne both earning all-conference and all-region honors throughout their Academy careers in cross country. Payne was also the conference champion for the 2002 10,000-meter run. Acs, who currently holds the No. 1 outdoor best mark with (14:06.72) in the 5,000m, was the cross country teams MVP in 2000, while Payne received the team honor 2002, both are the 2003-team captains.
NCAA Men's Top 10 of 31-Team Finishers: 1. Stanford University (24) 2. University of Wisconsin (174) 3. Northern Arizona (189) 4. Iona College (207) 5. University of Arkansas (213) 6. University of Colorado (259) 7. Georgetown (281) 8. Air Force Academy (327) 9. University of Michigan (332) 10. North Carolina State (343). Go to: http://www.unipanthers.com/img/subNav/ncaa_cross_country.jpg for complete team and individual results |
