Women's Track Team To Face Navy and Army
3/31/2003 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
March 31, 2003
Air Force women's track team will compete in their first-ever triangular meet at the Naval Academy's Ingram Field this Saturday against the Midshipmen and the Black Knights from Army.
This is the second trip to the East Coast for the women as they spent a very successful spring break in Florida. The Falcons competed in non-scoring meets at both Florida State (Mar. 21-22) and Florida (Mar. 28-29).
"We are extremely excited about this meet because it is our first-ever trip to the Naval Academy," said head coach Ralph Lindeman. "The only other time we competed against both Army and Navy was in 1999 in Biloxi, MS as part of their tercentennial celebration. We lost in that competition but we have a much better team now and our women have been pointing towards this meet."
While the women are at Navy, the men will compete at the Tom Benich Classic in Greeley, CO.
The first two outdoor meets of the season produced several individual highlights for both the men and women. C1C Jocelyn Dooley's winning javelin throw at Florida of 155-feet, 10-inches set a new school record. It also is a NCAA regional qualifying mark. It marked the second consecutive week Dooley set the record.
A week earlier, Dooley broke her own record with a throw of 148-feet, 8-inches. Her previous record was 146-feet, 3-inches set last season.
C1C Elissa Ballas and C2C LaTravia Robinson are two more athletes that Lindeman expects will score well against Army and Navy.
Ballas posted a time of 4:32.96 in the 1,500 meters on Saturday. Her time is the fifth fastest in school history. Robinson leaped 40-feet at Florida State two weeks ago to place her at the number two position on Air Force's all-time list.
For the men, the relay teams were the top performers. A new school record of 15:43.61 was set by the 4x1,500-meter team of Mark Walter, Nathan Franz, Ben Payne and Chris Acs. The sprint relay team of Nick Bromberek, Luke Marker, Tom Clark and Bryant Bevan placed second Saturday with a time of 3:22.14. That time is the second fastest in school history. In the shuttle hurdles, Sean Temple, Luke Marker, Jim Campbell and Tom Clark posted a time of 57.75, the second fastest in school history.
Other highlights from the first two outdoor meets of the season included:
400-meters -- 57.63, Jami Hodge -- #5 Air Force all-time list
800-meters -- 2:16.09, Elissa Ballas -- #8 Air Force all-time list
5000-meters -- 17:41.61, Anne Chumlea -- #6 Air Force all-time list
400-meter hurdles -- 65.40, Paula Maffey -- #7 Air Force all-time list
66.25, Jen Neville-- #10 Air Force all-time list
Decathlon - 6745, Nick Herald -- #4 Air Force all-time list
