Air Force Academy
MWC Championships
Brian Walsh Sets Academy Record in Heptathlon
2/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Feb. 23, 2007
ALBQUERQUE, N.M. - Senior Brian Walsh set a new Academy record in the heptathlon, as the Air Force track and field team concluded the second day of action at the Mountain West Conference Championships on Friday, Feb. 23, in Albuquerque, N.M. Walsh was one of two individuals to earn all-conference honors at the meet, while the men's distance medley relay team picked up another.
Walsh tallied 5539 points to finish second in the heptathlon, breaking his Academy record of 5412 in the process. Walsh, who entered the day in third-place, picked up a pair of top-place finishes in the pole vault and 1000-meter run. Walsh cleared a personal-best 15'9" in the pole vault, which topped the entire MWC field by nearly a foot-and-a-half, while also clocking 2:42.97 in the 1000-meter run. Despite outscoring the field during the second day of action, Walsh fell shy of his second conference title by a mere 30 points.
Air Force also earned a second-place finish from the distance medley relay team. Seniors Jason Beck and Richard Elmore joined juniors Kyle Meakins and Ian McFarland crossed the finish line in 10:02.07 - the best time of the season by Air Force - to earn all-conference relay honors.
Junior Devin Hart picked up all-conference honors backed by a third-place distance of 22'5" in the long jump. The Falcons received additional points in the long jump from Walsh, who recorded a distance of 22'2½".
Sophomore Kirk Devine improved his standing in the Academy's all-time record book, as he threw 59'4" in the weight throw to take fourth. The new Sophomore Class Record is now just inches shy of the Academy record.
Air Force earned a multitude of points in the 5000-meter run, as three Falcons accounted for scoring finishes. Sophomore Joe Curran clocked in a 15:19.75 to take sixth, while classmate Sean Houseworth placed seventh in 15:23.67. Junior Josh van Wyngaarden crossed the finish line in 15:25.02 to round out the trio with an eighth-place finish.
In other scoring action from the heptathlon, sophomore Skylar Morgan finished seventh with a career-best total of 4740 points - the sixth-best score in Academy history. Morgan led the day with a fourth-place time of 8.62 in the 60-meter hurdles.
On the women's side, a pair of Falcons earned points for Air Force. Senior Olivia Korte threw an Academy Senior Class record of 56'1¾" to place sixth in the weight throw, while the distance medley relay team of senior Kim Brady and freshmen Sara Juback, Katie Anderson and Brittany Morreale placed seventh with a season-best time of 13:09.56.
In addition to the scoring events, several preliminary heats were contested this afternoon.
Junior Travis Picou qualified for the final round in two events. Crossing the finish line of the 200-meter dash in 21.09, Picou set a new MWC Championship Meet record. That time, which is a career-best and just .05 shy of the Academy record, broke the previous meet record of 21.11 that he set last year. In addition, Picou qualified for the finals of the 60-meter dash in a time of 6.77. A personal improvement, it is just .01 off of that Academy record.
Senior Nick Luina and Meakins both advanced in the 400-meter dash. Luina finished second in his heat with a time of 48.33, while Meakins clocked 48.98 to finish fourth in his group. The 800-meter run also saw a pair of Falcons advance to the finals. Junior Kevin Hawkins won the first heat with a time of 1:54.76, while sophomore Sebastian Ortiz finished third in 1:55.19. Sophomore Kellen Curry clocked a time of 8.31 in the 60-meter hurdles to advance to tomorrow's finals.
Freshman Ally Romanko was the only member of the women's team to advance from today's qualifying heats and used a time of 2:13.89 to compete in the finals of the 800-meter run.
The men are currently in fourth with 35 points, while the women are in seventh with five points. Action concludes tomorrow (Feb. 24) with the final day of competition at the MWC Championships in
Players Mentioned
