Falcons Sweep DMR Titles During First Day of Air Force Invitational

Feb. 11, 2011

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Men's Heptathlon - Day 1

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - Backed by first-place finishes from the men's and women's distance medley relays, the Air Force track and field team had a strong day of competition at the 21st annual Air Force Invitational on Friday, Feb. 11. In addition to the victories in the relays, the Falcons accounted for three additional scoring finishes, several top-five performances in un-scored events and qualified several athletes into tomorrow's finals.

Air Force claimed decisive first-place finish in both distance medley relay events. The women's quartet of sophomore Melissa Fuerst, junior Emily Cotharn, freshman Stephaney Saari and sophomore Jen Bremser clocked a time of 13:07.17 to finish 21 seconds ahead of the second-place team, while the men's relay of freshman Jake Hawkins, classmate Cory Engel, sophomore Cameron Edwards and freshman Shawn Dubbs won their race by a 20 second margin.

Junior Paige Blackburn accounted for another personal-best mark in the weight throw, as she posted a distance of 55'7½" to take fifth in the 38-thrower event. Blackburn's throw, an improvement of nearly one foot, is the third-longest distance in Academy history.

Air Force accounted for a pair of scoring finishes in the men's weight throw. Junior Robert Drye placed second with a throw of 61'0¾", while Jalen Fooster-Barrino took seventh with an Academy Freshman Class Record of 54'9¼".

Several races were contested today, but didn't count toward the overall team scores.

Senior Noah Palicia became just the 11th Air Force pole vaulter to clear the 17-foot bar, as he won dominated the unseeded pole vault with a clearance of 17'0¾". Bettering the field by nearly two feet, Palicia improved his own mark by one foot. Sophomore Michael Tibbs and freshman Elliott Beski recorded matching clearances of 15'1" - a career-best clearance for Tibbs - to tie for fifth (with ties, those jumps were the third-highest of the day).

Junior Ryan Del Grosso and freshman Lance Wolfsmith finished first and second, respectively, in the 3000-meter race, with Del Grosso clocking a time of 9:29.14 in his season-debut, while Wolfsmith finished second in 9:32.71. Sophomore Sam O'Hair clocked a second-place time of 4:31.25 in the mile.

Paced by junior Tawny Lambuth's career-matching clearance of 12'5½", Air Force accounted for four of the top five spots in the pole vault. Lambuth matched her career-best height to finish second in the 24-competitor event, while classmate Kimber Shealy, sophomore Bizzy Mellado and freshman Paige Shirley finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, with matching clearances of 11'11¾".

The women also claimed the top two spots in the 3000-meter run and two of the top four spots in the mile. Junior Alexa Ramsier clocked a time of 11:27.77 to win the 3000-meter run, while freshman Amanda Blain finished second in 11:29.39. In the mile, sophomore Kate Kanetzky placed second in 5:36.68 and freshman Carley Gross took fourth in 5:37.66.

In addition, three qualifying races took place today.

Sophomores Ted Artz and Blair O'Bryant finished first and second in the 34-competitior preliminary of the 800-meter run. Behind respective times of 1:57.64 and 1:57.78, the pair advanced to tomorrow's championship round. Senior Chris Severino and sophomore Anthony Delgado qualified to the championship finals of the men's 400-meter dash behind respective third- (48.94) and fourth-place (48.88) finishes. Severino's time was the best by a collegiate athlete in a race that featured over 60 runners.

Juniors Katie Carroll and Phaelen French advanced to the finals of the women's 800-meter run, behind respective times of 2:25.72 (14th) and 2:26.48 (16th). Cotharn, who also ran the second leg of the DMR, qualified to the finals of the 400-meter dash with a time of 59.66 to finish 12th in the 65-runner race.

The Falcons conclude action at the Air Force Invitational tomorrow (Saturday, Feb. 12) at the Academy's Cadet Indoor Track, with action slated to begin at 9 a.m. In addition, several of the squad's distance and middle distance runners are competing at the Flotrack Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash., this weekend.

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