Air Force Academy
MW Championships
Falcons Tally Five MW Titles on Final Day
5/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Air Force claimed five conference titles on the final day of action at the 2015 Mountain West Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which wrapped up this afternoon (May 16) in San Diego. The men earned three championships on the track, as well as two from the field, en route to a runner-up finish in the overall team standings.
Senior Joey Uhle captured his second straight title in the outdoor pole vault, as he cleared 16'11½" to lead the Falcons to a sweep of the medalist positions in that event. Sophomore Kyle Pater matched that height (a career high) to finish second, while junior Dylan Bell completed the sweep with a third-place clearance of 16'3½".
Freshman Jamiel Trimble earned a pair of first-place finishes in his initial outdoor meet, winning the 110-meter hurdles and anchoring the 4x100-meter relay team that opened the day with a victorious time of 40.75. Trimble clocked the eighth-fastest time in program history (14.18) during the 110-meter hurdles, while overtaking UNM in the final steps to win the relay by 0.03-seconds. Trimble was joined on the winning relay by classmate Robbie Anderson, sophomore Zach Johnson and senior Jake Spuller.
Junior Grant Hamilton picked up his second title in as many days, as he won the shot put with a throw of 59'2¼". Hamilton, who won the discus throw last night, bettered the field by over one foot for his first career title in the outdoor shot put.
Junior Patrick Corona closed out the individual races with a winning time of 13:57.67 in the 5000-meter run. Staying within the lead pack for the entire race, Corona pulled away from the field on the back stretch to easily claim the conference crown. Corona was one of three Falcons to score in the 5000-meter race, as senior Riley Coates and sophomore Kyle Eller finished seventh (14:27.20) and eighth (14:32.60), respectively.
In addition to running on the winning 4x100-meter relay, Johnson, Spuller and Trimble accounted for several other scoring finishes on Saturday. Johnson finished fourth in the 100-meter dash (career-best matching 10.61) and fifth in the 200-meter dash (21.51), while Spuller added a sixth-place finish at the 200-meter distance (21.65). Spuller and Trimble also ran the final two legs of the 4x400-meter relay that took third in a season-best time of 3:12.38.
Freshman Tyler Koss, who finished sixth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.73, led off the 4x400-meter relay, while classmate Tyler Berson, who placed seventh in the decathlon on Thursday, ran the second leg before handing off to Spuller and then Trimble, who used a final surge to put the Falcons in the top three.
Highlighted by a runner-up finish in the 1500-meter run (3:52.96), senior Zach Perkins scored for the Falcons in two events. The senior, who was joined on the 1500-meter awards podium by sophomore Matt Dorsey (3:54.66, sixth), also finished fifth in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:50.99.
The men added a pair of scoring finishes in the javelin throw, as sophomore Taylor Hulslander and sophomore Eric Hoff finished fifth (194'3") and seventh (176'6"), respectively. Senior Blue Kearney rounded out the squad's top-eight finishers, as he recorded a wind-aided mark of 49'0¾" to place fourth in the triple jump.
Air Force recorded 172 points to finish second in the team standings - just 15 points behind Colorado State (187), who won their first conference title with 187 points. New Mexico scored 145 points to round out the top three, while Utah State (105), Wyoming (99), Boise State (86) and Fresno State (21) completed the full field.
Highlighted by a fourth-place finish in the 5000-meter run from junior Hannah Everson, the women earned four scoring finishes during the final day of competition.
Everson broke her own Academy record in the day's longest race, as she crossed the finish line in a career-best time of 16:22.69 to finish fourth. Everson, who deleted more than one second off of her previous program-best time, made one of two impacts to the women's all-time standings during today's competition. The women's 4x400-meter relay of senior Erica Carson, classmate Morgan Malone, sophomore Stephanie Robb and junior Naomi Alston finished seventh with a time of 3:48.12 - the fourth-best mark in Academy history.
Freshman Shelley Spires placed sixth in the high jump with a height of 5'7", while classmate Ryan Vicek finished seventh in the javelin throw with a toss of 134'9".
The women finished 11th in the team standings with 12 points. Colorado State completed the sweep of team titles, as the women won the 2015 championship with 167 points. New Mexico finished second with 133 points, while San Diego State (116), Utah State (68) and UNLV (64) rounded out the top five. Boise State (62) edged Nevada (61) for sixth, while Wyoming (52) earned a one-point advantage over Fresno State (51). San Jose State (33) and Air Force completed the full women's standings.
The season continues for Air Force over the May 28-30 weekend, as select Falcons head to Austin, Texas, for the preliminary round of the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. A complete list of qualifiers will be available next week.
Players Mentioned
