Kassie Gurnell Breaks Academy 26-Year-Old Triple Jump Record at CSU Pueblo

April 16, 2011

PUEBLO, Colo. - Air Force freshman Kassie Gurnell broke Air Force's 26-year old triple jump record on Saturday, Apr.16, as members of the track and field team wrapped up competition at the CSU-Pueblo Invitational. Gurnell was one of seven first-place finishes for the Falcons, who easily won the men's competition and placed fourth in the women's meet.

Gurnell recorded a personal-best distance of 40'8¾" to win the triple jump and take over the top spot in Academy history by breaking Cathy Robert's 1985 record of 40'6¼".

The men tallied 142 points to better the 13-team field by 44 points, while the women's scored 71 points to finish fourth among 14 teams at the Neta and Eddie DeRose Thunderbowl in Pueblo, Colo. The men accounted for five first-place finishes, while Gurnell was one of two members of the women's team to win their respective events.

Senior Matt Jones won the collegiate 400-meter hurdles (53.79) and ran the third leg of the winning 4x400-meter relay, as he, junior Bryce Bergman and freshmen Michael Craig and David Ptacek combined to cross the finish line in 3:19.45. Freshman Matt Caldwell clocked a first-place time of 1:56.22 in the 800-meter run, while classmates Elliott Beski won the collegiate pole vault (15'5") and Tim Urista won the javelin throw (208'8").

In addition to the event winners, several other Falcons earned scoring finishes in those same events. Freshmen Blake Moorhead and Nate Bratka finished fourth (165'4") and fifth (155'2"), respectively, in the javelin throw, while Bergman placed third in the 400-mter hurdles (53.80).

On the women's side, sophomore Bizzy Mellado won the pole vault with a clearance of 11'9¾", while freshman Paige Shirley finished fourth at 10'10".

The men gained multiple scoring finishes in four other events. Sophomore James Chambers placed third in the discus throw (153'9") which was called after the first three throws due to darkness. Bratka and freshman Spencer Baldwin placed fourth (150'11") and fifth (146'8"), respectively, while sophomore Brendon Birdsell rounded out the Falcons' scorers with a seventh-place throw of 146'1". Sophomore Brian Ford finished fourth in the hammer throw (162'8"), while freshman Jalen Fooster and junior Jared Barkemeyer finished fifth (162'2") and seventh (158'5"), respectively.

From the track, Air Force claimed four scoring finishes in the 1500-meter run. Freshman Lance Wolfsmith (4:06.10), sophomore Matt Bell (4:06.55) and freshman Shawn Dubbs (4:07.44) placed fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, while fellow freshman Isaiah Bragg rounded out the scorers with a 12th-place time of 4:11.27. Sophomores Andrew Quallio and Seth Pelletier finished fifth (15:34.77) and sixth (15:50.55), respectively, in the 5000-meter run.

Ford and Ptacek also earned additional scoring finishes from Air Force, as Ford placed eighth in the shot put (45'1") and Ptacek finished 11th in the 400-meter dash (50.05). Freshman Daniel Funk recorded a distance of 42'8" in the triple jump to place sixth, while sophomore Dontae Strickland finished 11th in the long jump with a mark of 42'8".

Back on the women's side, sophomore Bethany Gross picked up a pair of scoring finishes, as she placed fourth in the 200-meter dash (25.14) and sixth in the 400-meter dash (57.23). Freshman Becca Bauman also collected two scoring finishes, earning a seventh-place toss of 126'11" in the discus throw and an eighth-place throw in the hammer throw of 149'8".

Air Force also gained scoring finishes in the throwing events from sophomore Katy Moorkamp (132'2" fourth, discus throw) and junior Rachel Gebauer (40'3¼" eighth, shot put), while freshmen Rachel Herald and Jamie Hart finished fourth (5'3¾") and fifth (5'1¾") in the high jump.

On the track, freshman Tasha Mayne and Stephaney Saari finished fifth (2:21.58) and sixth (2:22.34) in the 800-meter run. Freshman Carley Gross recorded a debut 5000-meter time of 19:22.56 to finish fifth, while sophomore Jen Bremser finished ninth (19:51.72) in that race. Freshman Amanda Blain rounded out the Falcons' scoring finishes with a ninth-place time of 5:03.00 in the 1500-meter run.

Air Force returns to action next Saturday (Apr. 23), when it travels to Fort Collins, Colo. - site of the 2011 Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships - for the Jack Christiansen Invitational.

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