Air Force Quartet Heads to NCAA Championships
3/9/2011 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
March 9, 2011
The indoor season comes to a close this weekend, as four members of the Air Force track and field team will travel to College Station, Texas, for the 2011 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships (March 11-12). Senior Justin Tyner, classmate Tyler Stanley, junior Nick White and sophomore Anthony Delgado will compete in the national finals of the distance medley relay on Friday, while Tyner returns to the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium for the 3000-meter championships on Saturday.
Meet Notes 09: at NCAA Indoor Championships 
MEET INFORMATION
The 2011 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships will take place March 11-12 at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium in College Station, Texas. The meet officially begins at 10 a.m. on Friday, but the Falcons' will open competition at 8:40 p.m., with the distance medley relay finals. The finals of the men's 3000-meter run will take place at 6:55 p.m., on Saturday, March 12.
FRIDAY, MARCH 11
8:40 p.m.: Men's Distance Medley Relay Finals
SATURDAY, MARCH 12
6:55 p.m.: Men's 3000-Meter Run Finals
TYNER: HOW HE GOT THERE
Justin Tyner earned an automatic bid to the national meet in the 3000-meter run after clocking a career-best time of 7:53.91 at the Flotrack Husky Classic on Feb. 12. That time, which saw Tyner finish 11th among 122 runners at that race behind a 16-second personal improvement, is the 16th-fastest time in the country to date.
MORE ON TYNER
Justin Tyner will be making his second consecutive appearance at the indoor national championship meet, after claiming All-America honors last year. As a junior in 2010, Tyner was the top American finisher - and placed third overall - in the 5000-meter run with a career-best, Academy and Mountain West Conference all-time record of 13:41.26. Tyner, the Mountain West Conference champion in both the 3000-meter and 5000-meter races, has also represented the Academy at the last two NCAA Cross Country Championships.
DMR: HOW THEY GOT THERE
The distance medley relay team of Tyler Stanley, Anthony Delgado, Nick White and Justin Tyner earned an at-large bid to the national meet after recording the 10th-fastest time in the nation to date at 9:32.06 at the Mar. 5 Alex Wilson Invitational. The fastest of three at-large teams selected to the national meet, the quartet produced an Academy record performance to finish just 0.06 seconds off of the automatic entry time.
DID YOU KNOW?
Air Force is the first service academy to send a distance medley relay team to the NCAA Championships.
MORE ON THE DMR
Anthony Delgado is a member of the MWC champion 4x400-meter relay team, while also posting the eighth-fastest 200-meter dash time in program history. Tyler Stanley is the Academy record-holder in the 600-meter run and holds the sixth-fastest time in Academy history in the 800-meter run. Nick White moved into eighth on the program's all-time list in the 800-meter run, while scoring for the Falcons at the MWC Championships. Complete, updated bios for Delgado, Stanley, White and Tyner can be found on pages 2-5 of this release.
FALCONS SHATTER ACADEMY RECORD IN DMR
With a combined time of 9:32.06, the distance medley relay team of Tyler Stanley, Anthony Delgado, Nick White and Justin Tyner smashed the Academy record in that event at the Alex Wilson Invitational on March 5, subtracting nearly nine seconds off of the previous record from 2004. Tyner ran an anchor of 3:55.9 for the final 1600-meter leg, following strong performances from Stanley (1200-meters, 2:57.5), Delgado (400-meters, 47.8) and White (800-meters, 1:50.5).
MORE NEWS FROM THE FINAL QUALIFIER
Cale Simmons was the top collegiate finisher in the pole vault and finished second overall at the Alex Wilson iInvitational, as he matched his career-best clearance of 17'3¾". In fact, Simmons was the only collegiate vaulter to surpass the 17-foot bar. Jim Walmsley finished seventh in the 5000-meter run with a time of 14:11.28.
WHAT'S ON DECK
The Falcons begin the outdoor season on March 18, when they travel to Irvine, Calif., for the two-day UC Irvine Spring Break Classic. Air Force will remain in California during the Academy's spring break, also competing at the Stanford Invitational on March 25-26.
Players Mentioned
