Air Force Academy
MWC Championships
Robert Drye Wins Program's First-Ever Hammer Throw Title
5/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
May 13, 2011
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FORT COLLINS, Colo. - With an Academy-record throw of 209'11", Air Force junior Robert Drye claimed the program's first-ever conference title in the hammer throw during the third day of competition at the 2011 Mountain West Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Fort Collins, Colo.
In addition to improving his personal distance by seven feet, Drye crushed Vern Conaway's previous program standard of 203'10" that had stood since 1992. He also became the program's first hammer throw champion in any conference (Western Athletic Conference or Mountain West Conference).
Air Force throwers accounted for both the Falcons' all-conference selections during the second day of competition. Classmate James Cole became the program's first all-conference selection in the discus throw, after placing third with a toss of 174'7".
Cole was one of four Falcons to score in the discus throw - marking the most scorers in that event for the Falcons in program history. Fellow junior Sean Herbison recorded a distance of 165'8" to place fifth, while Drye added another career-best throw of 165'6" to take sixth, while sophomore James Chambers placed seventh with a throw of 165'1".
Air Force also collected multiple scoring finishes from the sophomore class in the high jump and 10,000-meter run. Zach Wood cleared 6'8" to place fourth in the high jump, while classmate Travis Smith cleared 6'2" to finish seventh. Fellow sophomores Jeremy Drenckhahn and Matt Bell finished fifth (33:00.72) and sixth (33:09.69) in the 10,000-meter run.
The men are currently in fourth place with 46.50 points - just three points behind Colorado State. BYU leads the meet with 87 points, while New Mexico is in second with 61. Wyoming (19) and TCU (10) round out the team standings in fifth and sixth, respectively, following three days of action.
On the women's side, five Falcons collected scoring finishes. Junior Paige Blackburn threw a 160'1" in the discus throw to place fourth, while classmates Tawny Lambuth and Kimber Shealy cleared matching marks of 12'0¾" to tie for sixth in the pole vault. Freshman Regan Rogers cleared a bar of 5'5" to place sixth in the high jump, while senior Katherine Ward clocked a 10,000-meter time of 37:24.69 to place eighth.
Blackburn, who entered the meet ranked 18th in the conference, just missed a scoring finish in the hammer throw, placing ninth with a career-best distance of 170'0" - a personal improvement of nearly eight feet.
The women are in eighth place with 11.50 points. BYU leads the field with 67, while New Mexico (58), San Diego State (45.50) and Colorado State (42) round out the top four. UNLV is in fifth with 38 points, while Utah is sixth with 31. TCU (16) and Wyoming (3) round out the team standings, sitting in seventh and ninth place, respectively.
Several preliminary heats were contested today, with nine Falcons advancing into tomorrow's finals.
Junior Bryce Bergman won the qualifying heat of the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 52.02 - the 10th-fastest time in Academy history. Senior Matt Jones also qualified to the finals in that event, clocking a time of 53.78. The Falcons also qualified two into the finals of the 400-meter run, as junior Manny Smith and senior Chris Severino placed fourth (48.00) and seventh (season-best 48.28), respectively.
Freshman Cory Engel placed sixth in the 110-meter hurdles preliminary race with a time of 14.74, while senior Tyler Stanley used the same placement to advance in the 800-meter run behind a time of 1:50.73 (season-best 1:50.08 when converted for altitude). Sophomore Anthony Delgado rounded out the Air Force qualifiers, as he placed eighth in the 200-meter dash prelim behind a career-best time of 21.99.
On the women's side, junior Emily Cotharn broke her own record in the 400-meter hurdles for the third time this season (61.39) to place seventh in the qualifying heat, while sophomore Bethany Gross finished eighth in the 400-meter dash preliminary behind a season-best time of 56.33.
Action concludes tomorrow (May 14) at the Mountain West Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Fort Collins, Colo.
Players Mentioned
