Air Force Academy
MWC INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sean Temple Successfully Defends His 60-Meter Hurdles Title
2/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Feb. 28, 2004
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - After swapping leaders all afternoon, the standings of the 2004 Mountain West Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships came down to the final event for the men's teams and in the end, Air Force finished third - mere points behind meet winner BYU and runner-up Colorado State. The Falcons, who had led throughout the day, posted a team score of 162.50, while the first-place Cougars tallied 169.50 points. Those two teams, along with the second-place Rams (164 points), distanced themselves from the competition early, as fourth-place Wyoming registered a team score of 85.
"While I'm disappointed in the outcome of the final standings... it pales in comparison to how proud I am of this team and the way they performed," head coach Ralph Lindeman said of the men's team after the final event decided the Falcons' fate. "We performed so hard today - I think it was our best meet ever."
The men's first race of the day was the 60-meter hurdles and Air Force took a 1-2-3 sweep in the event. Senior Sean Temple (Monument, Colo.) successfully defended his conference title, winning the event with a time of 7.89. Temple's NCAA Provisional Qualifying Time is new all-time conference record, besting the previous time of 7.92, which he set on Jan. 23. It is also a new conference championship meet record, topping the time of 7.91, which Temple previously held as well.
Right behind Temple, were teammates Luke Marker (Manson, Wash.) and Jim Campbell (Portage, Mich.), who crossed the finish line in a close second and third, with times of 7.92 and 7.93.
Paul Gensic (Fort Wayne, Ind.) led a trio of Falcons who earned points for Air Force on the pole vault. Gensic finished second with a season-best height of 17'7". That height is also a Provisional Qualifying Mark to the NCAA Championships. Sophomore Jason Jones (Park City, Utah) and junior Christian Morgan (Henderson, Nev.) finished fourth and fifth, with respective heights of 17'1" and 16'9?"
Senior Anthony Park (Las Vegas, Nev.) finished third in the triple jump, posting a new school record distance of 50'8?", while Chris Banks (Culpeper, Va.) finished fifth, with a personal-best mark of 49'11?". Banks only attempted his first jump, before being sidelined with an injury. Nick Bromberek (Lemont, Ill.) also earned a third-place finish in the 60-meter dash, crossing the line in a time of 6.86. Park's distance breaks the previous record of 50'6?", which had stood for just two weeks, after he bested the previous 20-year old mark at the Air Force Invitational.
Sophomore Mark Walter (League City, Texas) placed fourth in the mile, crossing the line in a time of 4:15.29 and junior Nathan Franz (Sierra Vista, Ariz.) finished sixth at 4:18.08. Senior Bryant Bevan (Langhorne, Pa.) finished sixth in the 800-meter run in 1:54.45, to earn points for the Falcons' cause. Temple also recorded a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.70, while Troy Jensen (Santa Ana, Calif.) finished seventh at 48.99.
For the women, the Falcons finished eighth, with eight points.
Jean Taylor (Florissant, Mo.) and Nicole Graham (Blue Springs, Mo.) finished eighth and ninth in the mile run, with times of 5:23.84 and 5:24.34, respectively. Cindy Dawson (Yreka, Calif.) placed eighth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:20.45, while Vivien Aspden (Yucaipa, Calif.) took 14th in the 3000-meter, finishing in 10:59.73.
From the field, Dominique Boivin (Shoreline, Wash.) and Olivia Korte (Seneca, Kan.) finished in the 10th and 11th spots, respectively, with distances of 43'11?" and 43'2?". Boivin's mark is a new season-best. Senior LaTravia Robinson (Waynesboro, Ga.) took 11th in the triple jump, with a mark of 37'5?".
Following the competition, Lindeman was named MWC Men's Co-Coach of the Year in a decision by the conference's coaches. Lindeman, who shared this year's honor with Del Hessel of Colorado State, also won the indoor coaching award in 2001 and has earned two outdoor titles as well.
Up next for the Falcons is the Final Qualifying Meet in Seattle, Wash., on March 5-6.
