Air Force Wraps up Action at Beach Invitational

April 18, 2015

CERRITOS, Calif. - Junior Riley Vann and sophomore Zoe Casteel improved their top-10 standings in the women's pole vault for the second straight day, as members of the Air Force track and field team wrapped up competition at the Beach Invitational in Cerritos, Calif., on Saturday, April 18. In all, the Falcons made three improvements to the Academy record book and picked up two event titles today.

Vann recorded the sixth-best pole vault clearance in Academy history (career-best 12'6¼") to win her flight and finish 12th in the overall field of 65, while Casteel cleared a career-best 12'0½" to finish 29th. With her clearance, Casteel became the 10th vaulter in program history to surpass 12 feet in outdoor competition, as she is now tied for ninth on the program's all-time list. It is the second time in as many days that the pair have impacted the event's top-10, as Vann cleared 12'4" (seventh all-time) at yesterday's Bryan Clay Invitational and Casteel tallied a then-best 11'9¾" (10th) at the Mt. SAC Relays.

The record book also received an update from Jamiel Trimble, who set a new Freshman Class Record in the 110-meter hurdles. Clocking a career-best time of 14.48 to finish eighth in the 43-runner event, Trimble knocked 0.05 seconds off of a Class mark that had stood for the last 30 years (Mike Profit, 1985).

The Falcons claimed a pair of event titles during the final day of competition on their California road trip.

Junior Grant Hamilton unleashed a season-best toss of 60'3¾" to win the shot put event that included 55 throwers. A seasonal improvement of over two feet, Hamilton was the only competitor to surpass the 60-foot line. That mark is just a quarter inch shy of his own Junior Class Record that he set during the indoor season.

In addition to his Freshman record-setting performance in the hurdles, Trimble also teamed with sophomore Chandler Myers, senior Jake Spuller and sophomore Zach Johnson to win the 4x100-meter relay with a season-best time of 41.12.

Sophomore Taylor Smith picked up a second-place finish in the high jump, after clearing 6'10¾" - the second-highest bar of his outdoor career. Smith was one of two Falcons to place within the top half of that event, as senior Kobi Rex recorded a season-best 6'6¾" to tie for eighth. Fellow senior Kyle Gartrell recorded a season-best distance of 22'5¾" to finish 17th in a long jump field that included 55 competitors.

On the women's side, senior Erica Carson clocked a season-best time of 56.48 in the 400-meter dash to finish 19th in a field that included 90 runners. Classmate Morgan Malone and sophomore Sydney Rohlwing also finished within the top half of their respective events. Malone recorded a wind-aided time of 12.23 to finish 38th in the 100-meter dash (100 total runners), while Rohlwing posted a personal-best time of 15.16 to place 34th out of 72 runners in the 100-meter hurdles.

Air Force also competed in the pole vault at the Mt. SAC Relays this afternoon. Senior Joey Uhle cleared 17'0¾" to tie for eighth in the invitational section (second amongst collegiate vaulters).

The Falcons return to action next week, splitting their time between the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa (April 23-25) and the Jack Christiansen Invitational in Fort Collins, Colo. (April 24-25).

Footer

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the u.s air force of non-u.s. government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although the u.s. air force may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for department of defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.