Falcons Split for a Pair of Weekend Meets
3/31/2010 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
March 31, 2010
The Air Force track and field team splits up this weekend for a pair of competitions. Nine Falcons will travel to Austin, Texas, for the 83rd Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays on Thursday-Saturday (April 1-3), while the remainder of the team will remain in-state, traveling to Greeley for the annual Tom Benich Track and Field Classic on Friday-Saturday (April 2-3).
Meet Notes 12: at Texas Relays; at Tom Benich Classic 
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: TEXAS RELAYS
The 83rd running of the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays officially begins on Wednesday, but the Falcons don't begin competing until Thursday. Sara Neubauer opens the day with the hammer throw at 12:30 p.m., while Joel Nolan and Chase Cooper's section of pole vault competition begins at 3:30 p.m. Katie Weber (javelin throw), Kimber Shealy (pole vault) and Kyle Schwochow (shot put) will compete at 10 a.m., on Friday, while Neubauer will compete in the discus throw at 4 p.m., and Connor Van Fossen will participate in the javelin throw at 7 p.m. Nick Frawley will compete in the "A" section of the pole vault at 3 p.m., on Saturday, while Neubauer closes out the weekend with the shot put at 3:30 p.m.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: TOM BENICH CLASSIC
The Tom Benich Classic gets underway at 2 p.m., on Friday afternoon, with the men's and women's hammer throw and invitational rounds of discus action. Those two events will take place at Colorado State in Fort Collins. The majority of the meet gets underway on Saturday, at Northern Colorado's Nottingham Field at 10 a.m. The men's 3000-meter steeplechase and javelin throw, as well as the women's shot put, pole vault and long jump, all get underway at 10 a.m. The events are scheduled to continue until 3:35 p.m., with the men's 4x400-meter relay.
TYNER EARNS MWC ATHLETE OF THE WEEK HONORS
Justin Tyner claimed his first MWC Track and Field Athlete of the Week Award on March 30. The junior won both the 1500- and 5000-meter races as the Military Track and Field Championships on March 27, setting meet records and career-best times in both. He took over the conference lead in the 1500-meter race with a time of 3:47.32, while recording the eighth-fastest time in Academy history in the 5000-meter race with a time of 14:09.44. That time shattered the previous meet record by 27 seconds!
WOMEN WIN MILITARY CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE
Backed by 11 first-place finishes, including a sweep of the throwing events from Sara Neubauer and three titles from Ally Romanko, the Air Force women dominated its fellow service academies to win the 2010 Military Track and Field Championships on Saturday, March 27. The Falcons collected 237 points to better the other five programs by 44 points. The Falcons accounted for eight meet records.
MEN PLACE SECOND AT ALL-MILITARY MEET
The men collected seven first-place finishes and 198 total points to place second at the Military Track and Field Championships, falling just 11 points shy of eventual winner Army. Highlighted by a pair of wins from Justin Tyner and six meet records, the Falcons distanced themselves from the remaining six teams by over 40 points.
AND THAT'S A MEET RECORD...
As marks from the inaugural meet in 2007 fell, that phase was uttered 21 times over the two-day meet. Air Force accounted for 14 of those occurrences, including three from Sara Neubauer (shot put, discus throw, hammer throw), two from Ally Romanko (800-meters, 1500-meters) and two from Justin Tyner (1500-meters, 5000-meters).
DID YOU KNOW?
After two Military Championships (2007, 2010), the Falcons now hold over half of the meet records (21 of 38). Included in that total are six of eight throwing events, both pole vaults, both steeplechase events and eight of 11 men's track events, highlighted by everything from the 100- to 5000-meter distances.
WHAT A WEEKEND!!!
Sara Neubauer successfully defended her shot put title (49'3") at the Military Championships on Friday, before winning all three of her events on Saturday. The senior finished first in all four throwing events, while setting meet records in three of them. Neubauer opened the day with a distance of 135'11" to win the javelin throw, before placing first in the hammer throw at 175'3". She completed the gold medal sweep with a winning toss of 165'0".
RUNNIN' ROMANKO
Ally Romanko claimed a pair of event titles in the middle distances at the Military Championships. She successfully defended her title in the 800-meter run, while improving her meet-record time to 2:10.36. Romanko also set a meet record in the 1500-meter run, winning the race in a time of 4:23.77. In addition, the senior ran the final leg of the 4x400-meter relay team that finished first in a meet-record time of 3:54.12. Joining Romanko on the winning race was classmate Jessica Mapes and freshmen Bethany Gross and Morgan Mosby.
MORE WINNERS
In addition to the seven titles claimed by Sara Neubauer and Ally Romanko, Air Force earned four more first-place finishes. Jen Bremser won her 3000-meter steeplechase debut (11:26.92) and moved into fifth on the program's all-time list. Danielle McCarty won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:04.38. Kimber Shealy cleared 12'6" to win the pole vault, while Cresha White won the long jump with a career-best 18'2½".
MORE WINNERS, PART TWO
While Justin Tyner claimed a pair of event titles, five other Falcons posted first-place finishes as the service academy showdown. Justin Manchester clocked a 54.77 to win the 400-meter hurdles out of the first section of runners, while Zach Nordahl clocked a time of 9:18.35 to win the 3000-meter steeplechase. Clearing 17'0¾", Nick Frawley won the pole vault and improved the meet record by nearly two feet, while James Cole (discus throw, 160'8") and Connor Van Fossen (javelin throw, 201'3") claimed first-place honors in their respective throwing events.
FITTING RIGHT IN
Freshman Bethany Gross, who spent the past six months as a member of the women's basketball team, joined the team on Wednesday and made an immediate impact on the program. Gross placed third in the long jump with a distance of 18'0¼". She became just the ninth female to surpass 18-feet in that event and is already listed on the program's all-time list. She also ran the second leg of the winning 4x400-meter relay team that clocked the sixth-fastest time in Academy history and scored for Air Force with a fifth-place finish in the 400-meter dash.
WHAT'S ON DECK
The Falcons travel to another pair of meets. On Saturday, April 10, some members of the squad will head to Tempe, Ariz., for the annual Sun Angel Classic at Arizona State, while the rest of the team heads to Boulder for the Colorado Invitational.
Players Mentioned
