Dylan Bell, Zach Perkins Advance to NCAA National Championships

May 30, 2015

AUSTIN, Texas - With a pair of top-12 finishes during the final day of competition at the NCAA West Preliminary, the Air Force track and field team qualified two more athletes to next month's national championship meet. Junior Dylan Bell and senior Zach Perkins added their names to the national roster, as they advanced to the final site in the pole vault and 1500-meter run, respectively.

Bell cleared 17'6½" - a height that matched his career high and the seventh-best clearance in Academy history - on his final attempt to advance to his first national finals. The junior opened the competition at the initial height of 16'6¾" and cleared that bar on his second attempt. He then bettered the 17'0¾" bar on his first try, while clearing the next (17'4½") on his third. With the field of 48 whittled down to 15, the bar was raised to 17'6½". Bell narrowly missed on his first two attempts, before clearing the bar on his final attempt to secure a trip to the NCAA Championships. With 11 of the 12 finalists clearing the 17'6½" bar, Bell tied for 10th overall, based on attempts (under new prelim regulations, the competition stops once the 12 finalists have been determined).

Following a lengthy weather delay, Perkins joined Bell on the Falcons' NCAA roster, when he claimed an automatic bid to the NCAA final site in the 1500-meter run by finishing second in his heat of the regional final (national quarterfinal). Beginning the race on the far end of the starting line, Perkins quickly made his way across the track and into the lead pack. He remained with the race leaders, before moving into the front at the midway point of the bell lap. Clocking a season-best time of 3:42.93, he finished second in his heat by a mere 0.01-seconds, but easily qualified to his second national meet, as the race advanced the top five runners from each heat.

Two other Falcons also competed in the pole vault this afternoon, as senior Joey Uhle tied for 23rd with a clearance of 16'6¾" and sophomore Kyle Pater tied for 32nd with a height of 16'0¾". Sophomore Matt Dorsey joined Perkins in the 1500-meter run, finishing 11th in his heat, and 20th overall (3:47.73), while junior Patrick Corona rounded out the Falcons' preliminary meet athletes, clocking a time of 14:39.45 to finish 18th in his heat and 34th overall in the regional final (national quarterfinal) of the 5000-meter run.

Bell, Perkins and junior Hannah Everson, who advanced after winning the 10,000-meter run on Thursday night, will conclude the 2015 season at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., on June 10-13.

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