Select Falcons Head to Seattle for Final Qualifier
3/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
March 5, 2010
Five members of the Air Force track and field team will travel to Seattle, Wash., for the UW Final Qualifier on Saturday, March 6. Seniors Nick Frawley, Sara Neubauer and Ally Romanko will join sophomore James Walmsley and freshman Chase Cooper will compete at the meet in hopes of improving their marks before selections are made to the NCAA Indoor Championships next week.
Meet Notes 08: at Washington Final Qualifier 
Updated 2010 Indoor Performance List
SCHEDULING 101
The Falcons will send three field event athletes and two distance runners to the final qualifying meet. Sara Neubauer opens the day in the weight throw, which is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. She will also compete in the shot put, which is slated for 1 p.m. Chase Cooper and Nick Frawley will both take part in the pole vault, which is also scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Ally Romanko will run in the 800-meter run at 1:55 p.m., while James Walmsley will compete in the 3000-meter run at 2:55 p.m.
MAKING PROVISIONS
Four of the five Falcons competing this weekend have already earned a NCAA Provisional Mark in their respective events. Nick Frawley is currently tied for eighth in the nation, with a pole vault clearance of 17'7¾". Sara Neubauer is ranked 12th in the shot put (53'11") and 33rd in the weight throw (61'11"). Ally Romanko (24th, 800-meter run: 2:06.91) and Chase Cooper (26th, pole vault: 17'4½") are ranked 24th and 26th, nationally, in their respective events. James Walmsley is just three second shy of the provisional mark in the 3000-meter run.
EARLIER THIS YEAR
This will be the second time that Ally Romanko and James Walmsley have competed at the Dempsey Indoor Center. Romanko clocked her Academy record 800-meter time of 2:06.91 at the Husky Classic during the Feb. 12-13 weekend, while Walmsley posted a career-best 3000-meter time of 8:08.02 at that meet.
CONFERENCE RECAP IN UNDER 30 WORDS
Highlighted by four conference titles and 10 all-conference selections, the Air Force men's and women's teams finished fifth and eighth, respectively, at the Mountain West Conference Indoor Championships.
WHAT A WEEKEND
Sara Neubauer picked up a pair of MWC titles at the annual conference championships on Feb. 25-27. Contributing to over half of the Falcons' team points, Neubauer won both the shot put and weight throw. She won her first-ever title on Friday, placing first in the weight throw with a distance of 60'2". She returned to the medal podium on Saturday, after a career-best, Academy record-performance of 53'11" in the shot put. Her winning throw marked the sixth time in eight meets this season that Neubauer has improved the Academy record, while moving into third on the conference's all-time list.
DID YOU KNOW?
By winning both the shot put and weight throw, Sara Neubauer became the first conference female to win both throwing titles since Colorado State's Loree Smith in 2005, and the first overall to win both titles since the Rams' Nate Heyrman in 2006.
TYNER GETS THE GOLD ... AND AN ACADEMY RECORD
Justin Tyner became the 19th different Air Force athlete to claim a Mountain West Conference title, winning the 3000-meter run in a time of 8:21.59 on Saturday, Feb. 27. Clocking the third-fastest time in championship meet history, Tyner capped off a stellar weekend, which a record-setting runner-up finish in the 5000-meter run. With an altitude converted time of 13:52.47, Tyner blasted the previous time in that event by nearly seven seconds.
GOING THE DISTANCE
Justin Tyner's victory marked the third straight year that an Air Force runner has won the 3000-meter race. Former Falcon standout Sean Houseworth claimed back-to-back titles at the 2008 and 2009 championships, before Tyner claimed the 2010 medal. The Falcons also claimed three straight titles in that event during their days in the Western Athletic Conference, highlighted by Eric Mack (1995, 1996) and Andrew Marx (1997).
FRAWLEY, COOPER DOMINATE MEDAL PODIUM
With a clearance of 17'4", Nick Frawley claimed the second indoor title of his career and led the Falcons to the top two spots on the medal podium. Frawley, who also won the title at 2008 meet, has now earned all-conference honors in six of the seven conference championships (indoor and outdoor) during his career. In addition, Chase Cooper earned all-conference honors with a matching mark, finishing second to Frawley based on attempts at the 17'0¾" bar.
FANTASTIC FRESHMAN
Three members of the Falcons' youngest class picked up all-conference honors at the MWC Championships on Feb. 25-27. Chase Cooper placed second in the pole vault, with a career-best clearance of 17'4¾", while classmate Zach Wood claimed runner-up honors in the high jump with a personal-best height of 6'9". Wood became the first Air Force high jumper to finish within the top three at a conference meet since Jim Campbell in 2003. Fellow freshman Uzor Udensi edged into medal contention of the 200-meter dash by .01 seconds, becoming the only non-TCU sprinter to finish within the top five.
LOOKING TO THE RELAYS
Both of the men's relay teams accounted for all-conference honors, marking the first time since 2002 that both relays finished within the top three. Chris Severino, Matt Jones, Bryant Davis and Manuel Smith combined for a time of 3:14.71 to place third in the 4x400-meter relay, while the distance medley relay team of Zach Nordahl, Bryant Davis, Tyler Stanley and James Walmsley finished third in that race in 10:05.76. In addition, the women's 4x400-meter relay team of Jessica Mapes, Morgan Mosby, Ally Romanko and Emily Cotharn recorded the fifth-fastest time in Academy history at 3:42.82.
WHITE IT OUT...
Cresha White had an outstanding weekend at the conference championships, tying for an Academy record and setting personal-best marks in her other two events. White crossed the finish line of the 60-meter dash semifinals in a time of 7.68, matching the time that Jeri Nelson first set in 1979 and Apryl Ford matched in 1981. She also moved into third on the Academy's all-time list in both the 200-meter dash (25.54) and long jump (18'5") over the weekend.
WHAT'S ON DECK
The participants for the 2010 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships will be announced on Monday, March 8. The national meet will be held March 12-13 in Fayetteville, Ark.
Players Mentioned
