Falcons Head North To Tom Benich Classic
4/1/2004 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
April 1, 2004
The Air Force track and field program heads north to Greeley, Colo., this weekend for the Tom Benich Classic on Saturday, April 3. The field events will begin at 10 a.m., with the women's hammer throw. The first track event will be the combined 10,000-meter run at 10:30 a.m. All events will take place at Nottingham Field on the campus of Northern Colorado.
But, before the Tom Benich Classic kicks off on Saturday, the Mike Bennett Decathlon and Kim Schiemenz Heptathlon will be contested on Thursday-Friday (April 1-2), also in Greeley. The decathlon will start at 10 a.m., on both days, while the heptathlon will begin at 10:30 a.m., on Thursday and 11 a.m., on Friday.
Air Force is coming off of the Stanford Invitational, an annual meet that features over 4,200 athletes. The Falcons set three school records over the two day span - as senior Ben Payne set a new school record in the 10,000-meter run, while classmate Jean Taylor put her name at the top of the 3,000-meter steeplechase records. From the field, Dana Pounds blasted to the top spot in the javelin.
FALCON RECORD SETTERS
Ben Payne ran the 10,000-meter run in a time of 29:25.34 to finish 21st out of 71 competitors. His time broke the previous Academy record of 29:36.78, which he set in 2002. In fact, teammate Brian Dumm's time of 29:35.14 (30th overall) also broke Payne's old record and is now the second-fastest time in school history.
In the 3000-meter steeplechase, Jean Taylor took 15th, with a school-record setting time of 10:59.79. Her time bests the previous Academy mark of 11:01.41 that Lara Coppinger set in 2002.
In the biggest record-breaking event of the weekend, Dana Pounds shattered the Academy's javelin record with a distance of 167'3". Entering the meet with the second-best mark in school history, Pounds crushed the previous record of 157'8" that Jocelyn Dooley set last year.
