Academy sports recap: Falcons finish third in track and field tourney

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U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) --  Backed by a second-place finish from Nick Wilson and a 10th-place finish from Nicole Graham, the Air Force men’s and women’s cross country team finished third at the Willamette Invitational in Salem, Ore., on Oct. 1.

Other top finishers were Mark Walter with an 11th-place finish behind a time of 24 minutes, 8.7 seconds, while Jeff Gosselin clocked in at 24:23.40 to record an 18th-place finish. Graham clocked 17:30.20 in the 5-kilometer race, en route to her 10th-place finish.

In other academy sports news, Kelly Morgan captured a come-from-behind three-set victory on the tennis court to win the D flight title at the Scarborough Specialties Women’s Tennis Open in Lubbock, Texas, on Oct. 2. Morgan, who trailed 5-1 in the third-set tiebreak against Vicky Michaud of University of Texas at El Paso, won nine of the last 12 points to win the match.

In women’s soccer, a pair of second-half goals lifted Wright State University to a 2-0 win over Air Force to claim the Air Force Invitational Championship here Oct. 2. The Falcons, who claimed second place in the tourney, fall to 4-8-1 on the season. Wright State improves to 6-3-2.

In men’s soccer action, for the third time in nine games this season, Air Force lost in overtime, this time with a 3-2 loss Oct. 1 to 10th-ranked Missouri State University. The loss puts the Falcons at 2-6-1 for the year, while Missouri State remains undefeated at 7-0-2.

In volleyball, despite Brooke Akers and Rebecca Gallegos teaming up for 39 kills Oct. 1, Air Force fell in four games at home to conference foe University of Nevada-Las Vegas. After dropping the first two sets (30-16, 30-25), the Falcons rebounded for a 30-28 victory in the third game, but UNLV took a 30-19 win in the fourth to claim the match win.

The day prior, the Falcons also dropped a four-game match to San Diego State University in Mountain West Conference action. Despite three players with double-digit kill totals, the Falcons fell 25-30, 30-32, 31-29, 24-30 at the home game.

In water polo action, on the first day of the East Meets West Tournament here Oct. 2 the 18th-ranked Falcons team went 1-2, defeating Occidental College, 13-7, before falling to Brown College, 7-4, and No. 9 Loyola Marymount University, 12-7. The Falcons now move to 5-5 on the season and 5-2 in the Western Water Polo Association.

For fans of the Golf Channel, they can catch the Air Force golf team when it will be featured on College Central, a weekly program on The Golf Channel dedicated to highlighting collegiate golf. The program is scheduled to air at 8:30 p.m. MDT on Oct. 6.