Nov. 24, 2003

Released Nov. 24, 2003 from MWC

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The 8th-ranked Air Force men's cross country team finished a stellar season with an eighth place at the 2003 NCAA Cross Country National Championships today at the University of Northern Iowa's Irv Warren Memorial Golf Course in Cedar Falls, Iowa. 16th-ranked Colorado State and No. 11 BYU finished the championship in 18th and 19th place, respectively.

The Falcons improved on their 26th place finish in the 2001 National Championship by placing two runners in the top-60 and three in the top-95 for a total score of 327. Senior Chris Acs led Air Force with a time of 30:21.8 (36th place). Junior Brian Dumm was the next Falcon to finish the race (58th, 30:39.1), followed by senior Ben Payne (61st, 30:42.9), sophomore Mark Walter (79th, 30:52.8) and junior Abe Wengel (93rd, 31:01.6).

No. 16 Colorado State was the next highest MWC institution, placing 18th with 434 points. Senior Austin Vigil paced the Rams with a 31st place finish (30:18.4). Sophomore Josh Glaab (40th, 30:25.5), senior Bill Michel (71st, 30:49.4), junior Mike Nicks (122nd, 31:19.1) and sophomore Paul Michel (170th, 31:54.6) finished the scoring for CSU.

No. 11 BYU placed 19th with 443 points. Juniors Nathan Robison (29th, 30:15.8), Kip Kangogo (81st, 30:55.0) and Bryan Lindsay (91st, 31:00.9), sophomore Chad Durham (100th, 31:05.1) and junior Josh McAdams (142nd, 31:30.4), were the scoring runners for the Cougars.

Stanford brought home its second straight team title, while Colorado's Dathan Ritzenhein won the men's individual title.