Falcons Wrap Up Opening Day at Early Bird Invitational

Oct. 19, 2007

Fort Collins, Colo. - With several solid performances, the Air Force men's and women's swimming teams wrapped up the first day of competition Friday at the Early Bird Invitational, hosted by Colorado State.

In the men's competition, Air Force captured three of the top four places in the 200 freestyle relay, led by the second-place team of Robert Dawson (Fr., Colorado Springs, Colo.), Stephen Grace (So., Cincinnati, Ohio), Kai Yamashiro (Jr., Kaneohe, Hawaii) and T.J. Cowling (Sr., Newport News, Va.) in a time of 1:25.70.

The Falcons finished first and second in the 500 free, with sophomore Sean O'Keefe (Lake Oswego, Ore.) taking the top spot in a time of 4:46.39, while freshman Tom Hansen (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) followed with a mark of 4:48.31.

Air Force dominated the 200 IM, placing seven of the top 10 finishers, led by junior Bryan Avery (Mililani, Hawaii) in first place with a time of 1:58.83. Meanwhile, in the 50 free, Cowling led a group of Falcons finishing in the top 10, taking fourth place with a mark of 21.50.

In the final event of the opening session, the Falcons grabbed the top spot in the 400 medley relay, with the team of Yamashiro, Justin Day (Jr., Peyton, Colo.), Avery and Cowling combining for a mark of 3:28.90.

On the women's side, the Falcons captured a fifth-place finish in the 200 free relay, with the team of Katie Brock (Fr., Spring, Texas), Katelyn Hunter (So., La Crescent, Minn.), Esther Kim (Fr., Huntington Beach, Calif.) and Jane Hwang (Irvine, Calif.) notching a time of 1:41.62. Meanwhile, the 400 medley relay team of Kaeli Kluesner (Fr., Denver, Colo.), Hwang, Hunter and Brock finished sixth with a mark of 4:16.57.

Air Force's top performance of the day came from Hwang, who captured second place in the 200 IM with a mark of 2:12.93. In addition, a pair of freshmen were top finishers for the Falcons, with Kluesner taking 11th place in the 500 free, with a mark of 5:30.15, while Kim clocked in at 25.84 in the 50 free to finish 14th.

The Early Bird Invitational concludes Saturday, with events starting at 9:00 a.m.

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