Michael Tibbs Places Second in MWC Decathlon

May 12, 2011

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Behind a career-best 7,017 points, Air Force sophomore Michael Tibbs placed second in the decathlon at the 2011 Mountain West Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday, May 12, in Fort Collins, Colo. Highlighting Tibbs' day were a pair of first-place marks and an Academy decathlon record in the discus throw.

Under windy and rainy conditions at Colorado State's Jack Christiansen Track, Tibbs became just the sixth decathlete in Academy history to surpass the 7,000-point total, as he improved his overall tally by 200 points.

Tibbs entered the second day of MWC decathlon competition in third place with 3,506 points.

After clocking a time of 15.26 to place third in the 110-meter hurdles, Tibbs set a new Academy decathlon event record in the discus throw. Recording a career-best throw of 135'6" to win the event, the sophomore shattered Tim Roberts' mark of 130'5" that had stood since 1980.

Weather forced the pole vault inside to Glenn Morris Field House, where Tibbs cleared a career-best 15'5¾" to win that event. Returning outside, Tibbs threw a 163'2" to finish fourth in the javelin throw, before closing out the day with a third-place time of 4:54.48 in the 1500-meter run. That time, registering in at 4:47.82 when converted for altitude, is a new personal-best.

With his second-place overall finish, Tibbs claimed his first all-conference accolade in the decathlon. He is the fifth different Falcon to earn a top-three finish in the 10-event competition, joining Nick Herald (2003), Brian Walsh (2005-06-07), Skylar Morgan (2009) and Noah Palicia (2009).

New Mexico's Richard York won his second straight conference title in the decathlon with 7,212 points. York's teammate Brian Wilson scored 6,770 points to finish third behind Tibbs, while Colorado State's Josh McMillin (fourth, 6,587 points) and BYU's Joshua Weirich (fifth, 6,484 points) rounded out the top five.

The rest of the squad opens competition tomorrow (May 13) at the 2011 Mountain West Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Fort Collins, Colo.

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Players Mentioned

Noah Palicia

Michael Tibbs

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