Air Force Academy
Air Force All-Comers Meet
Falcons Have Strong Showing at All-Comers Meet
1/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Jan. 16, 2009
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - The Air Force track and field team officially opened the 2009 season tonight (Jan. 16) with the annual Air Force All-Comers Meet. The Falcons accounted for five first-place finishes, including four from the women's program.
The Falcons picked up two victories in the longer distances, as freshman Auriele Fain won the mile race with a time of 5:26.53 and sophomore Katherine Ward finished first in the 3000-meter run with a time of 11:04.62. Junior Melissa Beerse won the pole vault with a clearance of 12'11¾", while classmate Sara Neubauer posted the longest distance (48'6") in the shot put.
Fain, who also placed fourth in the 800-meter run (2:25.35), was one of four Falcons to finish within the top seven of that race. Classmate Elyse Willard finished third with a time of 5:34.73, while junior Becca Burditt and freshman Katherine Carroll placed fifth (5:56.68) and seventh (6:02.15), respectively. Willard also joined Ward in the 3000-meter run, finishing second with a time of 11:19.19. Junior Danielle Snider placed fifth in that event with a time of 11:55.21.
Like Fain, Beerse led a number of Falcons to top finishes in the pole vault. Finishing second, freshman Kimber Shealy cleared a career-best 11'11¾" to improve her fifth-place standing in the program record books. Classmate Tawny Lambuth matched her personal-best clearance of 11'5¾" (seventh all-time) to finish fourth.
Freshman Paige Blackburn finished fifth in the shot put with a distance of 42'11½" - a mark that is the seventh-best distance in Academy history. Junior Nicole Elliott finished fifth in the 60-meter hurdles with a season-opening time of 9.30, while freshman Jordyn Stoddard posted a distance of 35'0½" to place third in the triple jump.
On the men's side, senior Kellen Curry won the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.16. Curry was one of three Falcons to finish within the top four. Junior Joel Nolan clocked a time of 8:47 to take third, while freshman Bryce Bergman finished fourth in 8.59.
Nolan also led Air Force on the pole vault, clearing 16'0¾" to finish as the top collegiate finisher and third overall. Junior Marshall Wills, sophomore Hatton Updike and freshman Brandin Bear tied for fifth on the event, with matching heights of 15'1".
Sophomore Tyler Stanley paced Air Force to three of the top-four finishes in the 800-meter run. Stanley placed second with a time of 1:56.48, while junior Andy Schweitzer and freshman Alex Zubey finished third (1:58.06) and fourth (1:58.61), respectively.
Sophomore Justin Tyner picked up a third-place finish in the mile, crossing the finish line in 4:35.55, while senior Sebastian Ortiz and freshman Jonathan Rock finished fourth (9:14.66) and fifth (9:20.72), respectively, in the 3000-meter run.
In the throws, junior Dan Paladino finished second in the weight throw with a distance of 54'5", while senior Kirk Devine placed third with a throw of 53'5¾". Sophomore David Nan finished fifth with a throw of 51'1½". A trio of freshman highlighted the shot put results, led by Kyle Schwochow who threw 45'3½" to take fifth. James Cole and Robert Drye finished sixth (44'6") and seventh (44'0½"), respectively, in their collegiate debut.
Air Force travels to Lincoln, Neb., for its first road meet of the season on Saturday, Jan. 24. For the third straight season, the Falcons will compete in the Big 12-Mountain West Conference Challenge at the Bob Devaney Center.
Players Mentioned
