Falcons Set to Host 24th Air Force Invitational
1/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Jan. 22, 2014
The Air Force track and field team returns to the Academy this week for its largest meet of the year ... the 24th Air Force Invitational. The three-day meet, which begins on Thursday (Jan. 23) with the heptathlon and pentathlon, and continues through Saturday (Jan. 25), will be held at the Cadet Field House Indoor Track. Admission is free for all three days.
Meet Notes 04: Air Force Invitational 
MEET INFORMATION
The 24th-annual Air Force Invitational will be held on Jan. 23-25 at the Academy's Cadet Field House Indoor Track. An early list of participating schools include Division I teams from Air Force, BYU, Colorado, Colorado State, Northern Colorado, UNLV and Wyoming, as well as non-Division I teams from Colorado Mesa, Colorado School of Mines, CSU-Pueblo, Highlands, Metro State and Western State. In-meet updates will be available on the team's Twitter page (@af_trackfield).
THURSDAY'S SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
1:00 p.m.: Women's Pentathlon (60-Meter Hurdles, High Jump, Shot Put, Long Jump, 800-Meter Run); 1:15 pm.: Men's Heptathlon (60-Meter Dash, Long Jump, Shot Put, High Jump)
FRIDAY'S SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
9:00 a.m.: Men's Heptathlon (60-Meter Hurdles, Pole Vault, 1000-Meter Run); 12:30 p.m.: Men's Weight Throw, Women's Weigh Throw; 12:30 p.m.: Women's Pole Vault, Men's Pole Vault (unseeded sections); 12:30 p.m.: Men's High Jump, Women's High Jump (unseeded sections); 2:00 p.m.: Women's Long Jump; 2:00 p.m.: Men's Long Jump; 2:00 p.m.: 5000-Meter Run, 400-Meter Dash (qualifying), Mile Run (unseeded sections), 200-Meter Dash (qualifying), 800-Meter Run (unseeded), Distance Medley Relay (women will compete first in all running events)
SATURDAY'S SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
10:00 a.m.: Men's Shot Put, Women's Shot Put; 10:00 a.m.: Women's Pole Vault, Men's Pole Vault (seeded sections); 10:00 a.m.: Men's High Jump, Women's High Jump (seeded sections); 11:00 a.m.: Women's Triple Jump; 11:00 a.m.: Men's Triple Jump; 11:00 a.m.: 60-Meter Hurdles (qualifying), 60-Meter Dash (qualifying), Mile Run (seeded), 60-Meter Hurdles, 400-Meter Dash, 60-Meter Dash, 800-Meter Run (seeded), 200-Meter Dash, 3000-Meter Run, Mile Relay (women will compete first in all running events; the three sprints, as well as the 60-meter hurdles, will run a Division I and non-DI final).
MEN RANKED 16TH IN DUAL MEET RANKINGS
Ranked 16th, the Falcon men made their debut on the Track and Field News' Dual Meet Rankings, which were released on January 21. The weekly rankings take into account wins and losses, strength and depth of dual meet schedule, and strength and breadth of marks. A complete list of rankings can be found on page 3 of this release.
EICHENBERGER BLASTS PAST FIELD IN 1000-METER RUN
Annette Eichenberger blasted past the competition in the 1000-meter run at the Holiday Inn Invitational, using an Academy-record time of 2:51.19 to cross the finish line over five seconds ahead of the nearest competitor. Eichenberger's time, a personal improvement by seven seconds, shattered the previous program standard of 2:54.62 that had stood since the Falcons' 2011 meet at Nebraska. For her efforts, she was named the Air Force co-Athlete of the Week.
MEN DOMINATE THE DISTANCES
Air Force won three of the four distance events contested at the Holiday Inn Invitational, while adding a runner-up finish in the remaining race. Zach Perkins won the 1000-meter run, while Patrick Corona and Isaiah Bragg finished first in the 3000- and 5000-meter races, respectively. Charlie Perkins, who paced Air Force with a runner-up finish in the mile, was one of three additional top-four finishes for the Falcons in the distance events, joining Matt Dorsey (second, 1000-meter run) and Elliot Myers (fourth, 3000-meter run).
MOVERS, SHAKERS AND RECORD BREAKERS
In addition to Annette Eichenberger's record in the 1000-meter run, Air Force made two additional improvements to the program's top-10 and set one class record during the Jan. 17-18 meet in Nebraska. Taylor Smith cleared 6'10¾" to debut in fifth on the program's all-time list in the high jump, while Grant Hamilton accounted for the Academy's sixth-best shot put distance (56'4¾"). With a distance of 39'11¼", Kassie Gurnell set the program's Senior Class Record in the triple jump, easily crushing the previous 24-year-old mark by nearly two feet.
IT'S ALL ABOUT CLASS
With her triple jump mark of 39'11¼", Kassie Gurnell became the second member of the women's team to hold all four Class records outright. Gurnell, who easily broke the previous 1990 Senior Class record of 38'3" at Nebraska on Jan. 18, joined Sara Neubauer (shot put) as the only two Academy athletes to currently hold all four Class records outright.
KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY
Four members of the track and field team have connections to other Academy athletes. Anna Olesinski's brother Marek is a junior on the men's basketball team, while Lindy Long's sister Lainie is a junior on the diving team and the Perkins twins (Charlie and Zach) both run track and cross country. In addition, Taylor Smith and Gavin Owens are just one year removed from having a sibling on the track and field team, as Travis Smith and Gage Owens both graduated in 2013.
IN REMEMBRANCE
The Falcons will be wearing black ribbons this season in honor of former teammate Capt David (Lissy) Lyon, who was killed in action in Afghanistan on December 27, 2013. Lyon, a three-year letterwinner as a thrower for the Air Force track and field team, was the 2008 Mountain West champion in the shot put.
FOLLOW THE FALCONS ON TWITTER
The track and field team can be found on Twitter by following @af_trackfield.
WHAT'S ON DECK
Air Force heads to Albuquerque, N.M., next week (Saturday, Feb. 1) for the New Mexico Invitational.
