Men Tie for Second at Jack Christiansen Invitational

April 25, 2009

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Highlighted by two top-five finishes from senior Sebastian Ortiz, the Air Force men's track and field team picked up a second-place (tie) finish at the Jack Christiansen Invitational on Saturday, April 24, in Fort Collins, Colo. The women earned a fourth-place score in the 15-team meet.

Ortiz clocked a time of 3:55.51 to win the 1500-meter run, while recording a time of 1:55.37 to take fourth in the 800-meter run. Freshmen Benjamin Cox and Bryce Bergman also earned multiple top-five scores. Cox finished fifth in the 400-meter dash (49.54) and ran the second leg of the third-place 4x400-meter relay team (3:24.96), while Bergman placed third in the 110-meter hurdles and ran the leadoff leg of that relay. Sharing relay duties with Cox and Bergman were senior Aaron Nelson and sophomore Chris Severino.

Senior Skylar Morgan picked up a second-place time of 14.97 in the 110-meter hurdles, while sophomore Taurean Singletary placed fourth in the triple jump at 47'0¾". Sophomore Hatton Updike and freshman Jacob Mersino finished fourth (13'9¼") and fifth (13'3½"), respectively, in the pole vault.

Colorado State won its home invitational with 121 points, while Air Force and Colorado tied for second with 72 points apiece.

On the women's side, the 4x400-meter relay team highlighted the day. Sophomore Nercressaine White, freshman Tawny Lambuth, freshman Gabrielle Quirao and junior Jessica Mapes combined for a race-winning time of 47.99. That time is the fourth-fastest in Academy history.

Individually, Lambuth moved into ninth on the program's all-time list in the pole vault, as she cleared 10'11¾" to finish second. Classmate Jordyn Stoddard also moved into the program's record book, as she finished as the runner-up in the triple jump with a distance of 37'8¾".

In addition to wining the 4x100-meter relay, Quirao ran a leg of the 4x400-meter relay team that finished fourth with a time of 4:10.94. Also running in the fourth-place relay were freshmen Emily Cotharn, Jessamy Barton and Margaret Weingart. Quirao also picked up a fifth-place time of 25.99 in the 200-meter dash.

Mapes also earned a pair of individual top-five finishes, taking fourth in the 200-meter dash (25.86) and fifth in the 400-meter dash (58.07). Junior Danielle McCarty and White finished fourth (16'1") and fifth (15'11½"), respectively, in the long jump, while freshman Shania Thompson improved her collegiate distance in the javelin throw to 112'7" to place fifth.

The majority of the Falcons remain in state next weekend for the second annual Front Range Invitational on Saturday, May 2, in Boulder.

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