Falcons Head To Early Bird Invitational
10/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Oct. 18, 2007
The Air Force men's and women's swimming teams return to action this weekend, Oct. 19-20, at the Early Bird Invitational, hosted by Colorado State.
Scouting the Falcon Women...
The Air Force women's swimming and diving team opened the season last weekend with a pair of events. After taking third place at the Denver Relays, the Falcons went 2-1 at the Air Force Invitational, picking up victories over Colorado School of Mines and Metro State, while falling to Boise State.
Among the top performers for Air Force last weekend were senior diver Danielle Dowds, who won both diving events, and junior Jane Hwang, who took second place in the 200 free. Several freshmen had solid debuts, led by Jessica Rodgers, who took fourth place in the 100 butterfly. Kaeli Kluesner finished fifth in the 200 IM and sixth in the 500 free, while Esther Kim took sixth place in the 50 free.
Scouting the Falcon Men...
The Air Force men's swimming and diving team opened the 2007-08 season last weekend at the Air Force Invitational, going 2-1. The Falcons picked up wins over Colorado School of Mines and Metro State, while falling to Denver.
Senior T.J. Cowling led the Falcons in their season-opening day, winning the 50 and 100 freestyle races, while anchoring the winning 200 freestyle relay team. Sean O'Keefe took first place in the 1000 free, while Justin Day notched a win in the 100 breaststroke. In all, the Falcons recorded 15 top-three finishes on the day.
The Teams...
Seven men's teams and 10 women's teams will be competing in this weekend's Early Bird Invitational. The complete list of participating teams follows: Air Force (men and women), Colorado (club teams, men and women), Colorado School of Mines (men and women), Colorado State (women), Mesa State (men and women), Metro State (men and women), Nebraska-Omaha (women), Northern Colorado (women), TCU (men and women) and Wyoming (men and women).
MWC Honors...
Sophomore Kyle Van Valkenburg captured the first Mountain West Conference Men's Diver of the Week honors of the 2007-08 season. It marks the first career honor for Van Valkenburg, and the first time for an Air Force diver since 2005.
Van Valkenburg led the Air Force divers at last weekend's season-opening meet, taking second place in the 3-meter dive with a score of 267.65, while finishing third at 1-meter with a mark of 264.45.
Up Next...
The Air Force women return to action next weekend, Oct. 27, when they open the MWC slate with a quad meet against San Diego State, Colorado State and New Mexico. Meanwhile, the men return to action on Nov. 2 with the conference opener at TCU.
