Falcons Set To Host Don Barrett/Air Force Open
2/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Feb. 19, 2004
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The Air Force track and field program returns home for the final warm-up before the Mountain West Conference Indoor Championships. The Falcons will host the Don Barrett/Air Force Open on Saturday, Feb. 21, in the Cadet Field House.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
The Don Barrett/Air Force Open gets underway on the field at 10 a.m., with the women's weight throw, men's and women's long jump and the men's pole vault. The finals of the women's 5000-meter run will kick off the track events at 10:30 a.m.
LEADING THE WAY:
Three Falcons currently lead the Mountain West Conference in their respective events. In the lanes, Sean Temple is ranked first in the 60-meter hurdles, with a season-best time of 7.88c, while Ben Payne crossed the finish line in a MWC-best time of 14:04.26. In the field events, Paul Gensic is tied for the highest height in the pole vault at 17'4?". The distance medley and 4X400-relay teams have finished with the second fastest times in the conference at 9:45.55 and 3:14.06, respectively, while Chris Banks and Anthony Park are individually ranked second in the league. Banks recorded a 23'11?" in the long jump, while Park has a 49'6?" in the triple jump. Nick Herald (heptathlon: 4696), Brian Dumm (300-meter run: 8:05.05) and Luke Marker (60-meter hurdles: 8.08) are all ranked third in the conference in their individual events.
RECORD-SETTING DAY
By the time the Pac-10 Invitational concluded on Saturday, Feb. 14, five members of the Falcon men's team had made the school record pages of the newly-printed media guides obsolete. Senior Ben Payne crossed the finish line of the 5000-meter run in an Academy-best time of 14:04.26. Payne's time set the new standard - breaking the previous mark that had been held by Eric Mack since Feb. 23, 1996 (14:04.79a at the WAC Championships). The quartet of Falcons who teamed up for the distance medley relay also left their impression on the record charts, finishing in a program-best time of 9:45.55. Mark Walter, Sean Temple, Bryant Bevan and Chris Acs displaced Paul Gomez, Marcus Alexander, Paul Graddon and Andrew Marx, who ran the event in 9:46.79m on March 1, 1996.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
The Air Force track and field program concluded a successful day of individual competition on Saturday, Feb. 14. One portion of the team traveled to the Pac-10 Invitational in Seattle, Wash., and took on competition from nine of the Pacific-10 Conference schools, as well as BYU, Idaho and a number of unattached competitors. Another group of Falcons headed north to Golden and the Colorado School of Mines Open. Two school records were set and three NCAA Provisional Qualifying Marks were met. There were also over a dozen season-best marks that were tallied on that day.
ON THE HORIZON
The Falcons' regular-season culminates next weekend (Feb. 26-28) with the Mountain West Conference Indoor Championships. The three-day event begins Thursday, Feb. 26, when the pentathlon and heptathlon are contested.
MEN
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
Ben Payne posted a fourth-place finish in the 5000-meter run, with a school-record and NCAA Provisional Qualifying Mark of 14:04.26. The time is also the top finish in the conference this season.
Brian Dumm also recorded a NCAA Provisional Qualifying Time, crossing the finish line of the 3000-meter run in 8:05.05.
Sean Temple had the top finish of the afternoon - a third-place time in the 60-meter hurdles (8.05).
Anthony Park posted a pair of fourth-place finishes in the triple jump and long jump. Park registered a 48'9" in the triple jump, while leading a trio of Falcons in the long jump with a personal season-best mark of 23'4?". Behind Park were Chris Banks and Nick Bromberek, who finished fifth and sixth, with respective marks of 23'1?" and 22'9?". The distance medley relay team placed fourth, with an NCAA Provisional Qualifying (and season-best) time of 9:45.55; while the 4x400-meter relay finished fifth with a season-best time of 3:15.26.
Nick Luina won the 200-meter dash finals at the Colorado School of Mines Open, finishing in a time of 23.15. Dennis Poland (60-meter hurdles), David McGee (triple jump), Wes Wilkenning (pole vault) and Buddy Lizzol (weight throw) each earned runner-up positions at the meet.
ALL-TIME LIST INCURSIONS
Aside from the obvious inclusions of the school record-setters (Ben Payne and the distance medley relay team) three other Falcon men made their way into the program's Top-10 list. Brian Dumm's 8:05.05 in the 3000-meter run is fifth on the all-time list, while Nick Wilson's time of 14:29.99 in the 5000-meter run ranks eighth. Jason McNeal threw a 51'6?" in the 35-pound weight throw, which puts him ninth on the Academy list.
PERSONAL RECORDS SET THIS WEEKEND
There were 21 best-times set over the holiday weekend for the Air Force men's team...David McGee registered a pair of career-best marks in both the long jump (21'4?") and triple jump (44'7")...Brian Dumm topped his previous best finish in the 3000-meter run by 17 seconds
WOMEN
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
The highest finish for the women's team came from the distance medley relay team, who - in their first race of the season - finished fourth with a time of 12:23.04.
Individually, LaTravia Robinson had the day's best finish. Robinson registered a ninth-place finish in the triple jump with a distance of 37'7?". Robinson also recorded a 12th-place finish in the long jump with a season-best performance of 17'7?".
Also having a season-best performance for the Falcons was junior Jami Hodge, who crossed the finish line of the 400-meter dash in a season-best time of 58.30 - surpassing the previous top team time of 60.79. Classmate Cindy Dawson ran the 800-meter run in 2:18.37, which is also the best finish by a Falcon this season.
Washington-native Dominique Boivin posted a season-best 49'9" in the weight throw. In fact, along with sophomore Kristine Muth, who threw a personal-best 47'9", the duo holds the top two times for the season in that event.
At the Colorado School of Mines Open, Erin Richardson won the pole vault event, setting a season-best mark of 10'9", while Jessica Perez placed second in the weight throw with a 48'6".
ALL-TIME LIST INCURSIONS
Seven Falcons marked up the Academy record books this weekend. Jean Taylor anchored a distance medley relay team that finished in 12:23.04 and ranks fourth on the program's all-time list. Vivien Aspden's 18:01.77 in the 5000-meter run places her ninth, while Jessica Perez's weight throw mark is fourth. Margaret Frash, Jami Hodge and Kristine Muth also placed their names within the record book. Frash made her debut in the 3000-meter run's top-10 following a 10:19.76. Hodge moved from eighth to fifth in the 400-meter dash (58.30), while Muth continued climbing up the weight throw list (47'9") to rank fourth.
IF SHE KEEPS THAT UP...
Sophomore Dana Pounds got an early start on the outdoor season, when she competed in the javelin throw at the Winter All-Comers Meet hosted by Long Beach State University, in Long Beach, Calif. In her first meet this season, Pounds registered a distance of 152'8". She already holds the second-best time in that event during the outdoor season with a distance of 149'1" which she set last year.
PERSONAL RECORDS THIS WEEKEND
Aside from the Falcons that posted personal-bests that garnered all-time attention, several others set personal all-time bests. Three members of the team that run the 3000-meter run - Ilea Eskildsen (10:37.42), Ashley Snyder (10:43.77a) and Maija Rohde (11:11.78a) - recorded best times. Snyder (5:31.58a) and Beth Catherwood (5:11.16) each posted top times in the mile, while Kelly McPherson (2:19.11) and Crystal Grijalva (2:31.48) set theirs in the 800-meter run. Veronica Dawson was the lone field participant to earn a new personal-best mark - posting a distance of 15'0" in the long jump.
