Falcons Head to Military Track and Field Championships
3/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
March 25, 2010
The Air Force track and field team concludes its week-long spring break training trip with one of its biggest meets of the 2010 season. The Falcons travel to Lexington, Va., to take on their service academy counterparts at the second-ever Military Track and Field Championships on Friday-Saturday (March 26-27) at Reed Memorial Track. The men will look to defend their team championship title, while the women hope to improve on their second-place team finish from the 2007 meet.
Meet Notes 11: at Military Track and Field Championships 
WHO'S WHO...
The Military Track and Field Championships will feature teams from the seven service academies. Joining Air Force will be teams from Army, The Citadel, Coast Guard Academy, Merchant Marine Academy, Navy and host Virginia Military Institute.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
The meet begins Friday, March 26, with the men's and women's triple jump, men's shot put and men's pole vault. The three men's events are slated to begin at 1 p.m., with the shot put, pole vault and triple jump. The women's shot put and triple jump will immediately follow the conclusion of the men's events. Saturday's action begins at 8 a.m. with the women's javelin throw. Running events will begin at 12:30 p.m., with the women's 3000-meter steeplechase.
HOW IT WORKS
Although scoring takes place in the traditional 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 format, only the top two athletes from each school will earn placements. For example, if a team were two sweep the top four spots in an event, only the first two would claim points for their school and the fifth-place finisher would assume the third-place finishers' points.
RETURNING RECORD HOLDERS
Three current Falcons return to the track at VMI as meet record-holders. During the first-ever Military Championship in 2007, Ally Romanko (800-meter run), Sara Neubauer (shot put) and Katie Weber (javelin throw) won their respective events as freshmen to set meet records. In all, the Falcons set 19 meet records during the first championship meet.
A NEW MEET, SORT OF...
This meet is fairly new to most members of the Air Force program. The first - and last - Military Track and Field Championships took place in 2007, so only a handful of Falcons participated in this meet. The current traveling seniors that competed here as freshman are Nick Frawley, Danielle McCarty, Brittany Morreale, Sara Neubauer, Ally Romanko and Katie Weber. The meet between service academies is new for all of the coaching staff, except for head coach Ralph Lindeman and associate head coach Scott Irving.
AIR FORCE MEN WIN GEORGE MASON INVITATIONAL; WOMEN PLACE THIRD
Highlighted by eight first-place finishes, including a sweep of the throwing event titles, the Air Force men won its outdoor season opener, the George Mason Invitational, on March 20. The men accounted for 23 top-three finishes, as they bettered the field by over 40 points. The women claimed four first-place marks and 11 top-three finishes, en route to a third-place finish in the team standings.
TAKING CONTROL OF THE TOP
The Falcons accounted for first-place finishes in all four of the men's throwing events and three of the four top spots in the women's throws at GMU. For the men, Robert Drye won both the shot put and hammer throw, while Connor Van Fossen placed first in the javelin throw and James Cole finished first in the discus throw. On the women's side, Sara Neubauer picked up first-place finishes in the shot put and discus throw, while Katie Weber posted the best distance in the javelin throw.
PATRIOT GAMES
In addition to the seven victories from the Falcons' throwing team, Air Force earned first-place marks from Ally Romanko and James Walmsley in their respective races of the 1500-meter event. Joel Nolan (pole vault) and Bryce Bergman (400-meter hurdles) also picked up first-place marks.
WHAT'S ON DECK
The Falcons return to action on April 2-3, splitting for a pair of competitions. Select members will travel to Austin, Texas for the annual Texas Relays, while the rest of the squad will head to Greeley, Colo., for the Tom Benich Classic.
