Air Force Academy
MWC Championships
Skylar Morgan Finishes Fourth in MWC Decathlon
5/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
May 15, 2008
FORT WORTH, Texas - Highlighted by three career-best performances, a trio of decathletes from the Air Force track and field team claimed scoring finishes during the second day of action at the MWC Championships on May 15, in Fort Worth, Texas. In addition, the Falcons' lone heptathlete scored a personal-best mark, while a pair of throwers finished within scoring position.
Improving his total by over 200 points, junior Skylar Morgan placed fourth in the decathlon with a personal-best 6,557 points - the eighth-best total in Academy history. Morgan got the day started off on the right foot, as he won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.92. He also claimed a third-place mark in the discus throw (112'8") and a fourth-place score in the javelin throw (159'5"). Rounding out total was a fifth-place mark in the 1500-meter run (4:58.39) and a sixth-place score in the pole vault (12'7½"). Morgan, who also finished fourth in the heptathlon during the indoor season, paced a trio of Falcons to top-six scoring finishes.
Winning two of the final three events, freshman Noah Palicia scored a career-best 6,452 points to finish fifth. A career-best by nearly 300 points, Palicia moved into ninth on the program's all-time list and posted probably the second-best score by a freshman in Academy history (just 11 points shy of the Freshman Class record). After finishing fifth in the 110-meter hurdles (15.64) and eighth in the discus throw (80'11"), Palicia won the pole vault with a career-best 15'3" (the second-best clearance by any pole vaulter this season) and 1500-meter run (4:26.08). The two wins book-ended a sixth-place javelin throw of 156'11".
Senior Matt Gensic wrapped up his collegiate career with a personal-best total of 6,339 points. That sixth-place finish is the 11th-highest total in Air Force history. Gensic claimed third-place finishes during each of the final three events. He cleared 13'7¼" in the pole vault, recorded a distance of 162'4" in the javelin throw and clocked a time of 4:43.16 in the 1500-meter run. He also earned a fifth-place score in the discus throw (108'3") and a seventh-place tally in the 110-meter hurdles (17.01).
Air Force and BYU combined for the top six spots as the Cougars swept the top three spots and Air Force claimed the next three. In fact, the athletes from the two programs accounted for all of the first-place finishes today.
Sophomore Danielle McCarty wrapped up the second day of action in the women's heptathlon with a career-best performance. Recording 4,411 points, McCarty jumped from sixth to fourth on the program's all-time list with a new Sophomore Class record. The score surpasses the previous mark that was set in 1991. En route to her ninth-place overall finish, McCarty finished sixth in the 800-meter run (2:23.29), eighth in the long jump (17'4¼") and ninth in the javelin throw (80'4").
In addition to concluding the decathlon and heptathlon, the men's hammer throw was also contested on Thursday night. Sophomore Dan Paladino finished fifth with a distance of 173'11", while junior Ian Hurdle tossed a distance of 163'7" to finish sixth.
The men are currently in third place with 19 points after the completion of two events. Backed by their sweep of the decathlon, BYU leads the field with 32 points, while Colorado State is second - and just one point ahead of the Falcons - with 20 points.
"I am very happy with our performances in the combined events," head coach Ralph Lindeman said at the conclusion of the meet. "We surpassed our point expectations. We had four athletes and they all set lifetime best marks."
Action continues early tomorrow (May 16) morning with the women's 10,000-meter run at 7:30 a.m.
Players Mentioned
