Select Falcons Travel to Alex Wilson Invitational
3/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
March 5, 2009
Seven members of the Air Force track and field team will travel to South Bend, Ind., for the Alex Wilson Invitational on Friday-Saturday (March 6-7). The athletes will try to improve their times and distances, as this is the last meet before the announcement of the field of competitors invited to the NCAA Championships. The Falcons will send six runners and one field athlete to the meet at Notre Dame's Loftus Sports Center.
WHO WILL BE THERE
A senior-filled men's squad will descend on Notre Dame this weekend. Kellen Curry will compete in the 200-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles, while Daniel Castle and Sebastian Ortiz will both run the mile. Sean Houseworth and Matt Williams will compete in the 3000- and 5000-meter runs, respectively. On the women's side, junior Ally Romanko will participate in the 800-meter run, while classmate Sara Neubauer will compete in the shot put.
MEET INFORMATION
Running the 5000, Matt Williams will be the only Air Force runner to compete on Friday night. The rest of the team begins action on Saturday. Sara Neubauer kicks things off for the Falcons at 11 a.m., with the shot put, while Kellen Curry's trials in the 60-meter hurdles begin at 11:10 a.m. Action concludes with Sebastian Ortiz and Daniel Castle running the mile at 1:50 p.m.
EARLIER THIS YEAR...
This will be the second time this year that Air Force has competed at Notre Dame's Loftus Sports Center, having participated at the prestigious Meyo Invitational on Feb. 6-7. During his last time in South Bend, Sean Houseworth set a provisional qualifying time of 14:00.47 in the 5000-meter run to finish second. That time is still ranked 24th in the nation.
HOUSEWORTH NAMED MWC HIGH POINT WINNER
Highlighted by two event victories, Sean Houseworth became the first Air Force athlete to earn the league's High Point Award. The senior accumulated 20 points with victories in the 3000- and 5000-meter races at the conference meet. He became just the second runner in MWC history to win the two longest races of the indoor championships.
A RECORD-SETTING PERFORMANCE
Clocking an altitude-converted time of 2:11.03, junior Ally Romanko broke her own Academy record in the 800-meter run. Romanko, who placed fourth in the event finals, surpassed her previous time of 2:11.12 that she first set in 2007. The time is also a new Junior Class record, breaking Joy Meyen's 1983 time. Romanko now holds the Freshman, Sophomore and Junior Class records in that event.
STARTING OUT STRONG
In the first "final" of the men's conference championships, senior Sean Houseworth won the 5000-meter race with a time of 15:09.35. The runner-up at the 2008 meet, Houseworth took the lead midway through the race and never looked back.
REMAINING WITH THE "HOUSE"
Sean Houseworth successfully defended his 3000-meter conference title, winning the race with a time of 8:26.74. That time, a seven-second improvement over his winning time last year, is the fifth-fastest in MWC Championship-meet history.
KEEPING UP WITH HISTORY
Senior Kellen Curry clocked a career-best time of 21.54 in the 200-meter dash to win the first conference title of his career. Curry's first-place finish was the Falcons' fourth 200-meter title in the last five years, as former standout Travis Picou won three straight crowns during the 2005-07 seasons.
WAIT, HE'S NOT DONE
In addition to winning the 200-meter dash, Kellen Curry placed second in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.09. Although just 0.06 separated Curry and the meet winner, the duo left the rest of the field behind, as the third-place runner crossed nearly .20 later.
MOVING ON UP
The women placed seventh at the 2009 MWC Championships - matching its best indoor finish since placing sixth at the 1996 Western Athletic Conference Championships (Air Force also placed seventh at the 2001 MWC meet). The 40 team points is the best since tallying 47 at the 2001 meet.
POLE VAULT POWER
Air Force earned scoring finishes from three members of the women's pole vault team at the conference meet. Sophomore Rachel Simmons earned all-conference honors following a third-place clearance of 12'9½". Freshman Kimber Shealy increased her own personal-best with a height of 12'9½" (the third-best height in Academy history) to finish fourth, while junior Melissa Beerse placed sixth with a distance of 12'5½".
RACKING UP THE POINTS
Junior Danielle McCarty accumulated the second-best pentathlon total in Academy history at the conference championships. With 3,365 points, McCarty also set a new Junior Class record, displacing the previous total of 2,983 that Katie Joynt set in 1997. Additionally, freshman Phaelen French tallied a career-high 2,844 points to move into eighth on the program's all-time list.
WHAT'S AHEAD FOR THE FALCONS
The participants for the 2009 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships will be announced on Monday, March 9. The national meet will be held March 13-14 in College Station, Texas.
