Air Force Trio Heads to NCAA Outdoor Championships
6/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
The collegiate track and field season comes to a close this week, as three members of the Air Force squad travel to Eugene, Ore., for the 2015 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The meet, which will run from June 10-13, will be held at Historic Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.
Meet Notes 21: at NCAA Outdoor Championships 
TRACK AND FIELD MEDIA DAY INTERVIEWS
Dylan Bell
Hannah Everson
Zach Perkins
Head Coach Ralph Lindeman
MEET INFORMATION
The 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships will be held at Oregon's Historic Hayward Field for the third straight year. The men will compete on June 10th and 12th, while the women will compete on the 11th and 13th, as the NCAA has split the meet into gender-specific days for the first time in championship history. General admission all-session tickets are $80 for adults and $44 for students, while single day GA seating is $20 for adults and $11 for students. Live results and video will be available every day, while AF-specific highlights will be available on the team's official Twitter page (@af_trackfield).
WHO TO WATCH
Junior Dylan Bell (pole vault), classmate Hannah Everson (10,000-meter run) and newly-commissioned second lieutenant Zach Perkins (1500-meter run) will represent the Academy at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. It is the second appearance in three years for Perkins, who finished second in the 1500-meter run at the 2013 championship meet.
| Event | Athlete | Semifinals | Finals |
| Men's Pole Vault Dylan Bell | Wednesday, June 10 | 4:00 p.m. | |
| Men's 1500-Meter Run Zach Perkins | Wednesday, June 10 | 4:14 p.m. | Friday, June 12 | 4:45 p.m. |
| Women's 10,000-Meter Run Hannah Everson | Thursday, June 11 | 6:30 p.m. |
IF YOU CAN'T MAKE IT TO EUGENE
The NCAA Outdoor Championships will feature unprecedented coverage in 2015, as the entire competition will be broadcast by the ESPN Network. ESPN3 will air continuous coverage on Wednesday (2:00-1:45 p.m.), Thursday (1:00-10:45), Friday (7:00-10:15) and Saturday (4:30-7:45), while ESPNU will broadcast on Wednesday (7:00-10:30) and Thursday (7:00-8:30). In addition, the meet will receive coverage on ESPN (Thursday, 8:30-10:30; Friday, 7:30-10:00) and ESPN2 (Saturday, 5:00-7:30). All broadcast times are Eastern.
HOW THEY GOT THERE
Dylan Bell, Hannah Everson and Zach Perkins advanced to the national championship meet based on top-12 finishes in their respective events at the West Preliminary Meet in Austin, Texas, on May 28-30. Everson clocked an Academy-record 34:23.52 to win the 10,000-meter run, while Dylan Bell tied for 10th in the pole vault with a career-best 17'6½". Zach Perkins, who finished third in his first-round race of the 1500-meter run, earned an automatic berth to the final site after finishing second in his preliminary final with a season-best time of 3:42.93.
DID YOU KNOW?
Air Force's three selections are tied for the Academy's most since the NCAA Championships moved to the Preliminary Round format during the 2010 season. The Falcons have sent at least three athletes to the final site five times in the last six years. In addition, Zach Perkins is the program's first repeat performer at the NCAA Championships' final site since Nick Frawley competed in the pole vault at four straight meets (2007-08-09-10).
BY THE NUMBERS
Sixteen Falcons have claimed All-America status a total of 23 times at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, while the women have accounted for 24 additional awards (11 individuals, three relays) as members of NCAA Division II (1981-96). Nick Frawley, Sara Neubauer and Dana Pounds lead the Academy's Division I record books with three All-America awards apiece, while Pounds (javelin throw, 2005-2006) is one of two NCAA champions for Air Force at the Division I level, joining Jim Murphy, who won the 5000-meter title in 1964.
HISTORY 101
Dylan Bell's inclusion on the pole vault roster of the NCAA Outdoor Championships marks the eighth time in 10 years that Air Force has sent a pole vaulter to the national finals. In his first national final, Bell joins Joey Uhle (2013), Cale Simmons (2012), Nick Frawley (2007-2008-2009-2010) and Makisi Haleck (2005) as Air Force vaulters in the national championship field.
HISTORY 201
The 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships mark the second straight year that a member of the women's team has advanced to the final site in a running event. Hannah Everson - the program's first 10K finalist at the Division I level - will join 800-meter runners Annette Eichenberger (2014) and Ally Romanko (2010) as participants at the final championship site. Air Force has also sent three throwers - Olivia Korte, Sara Neubauer, Dana Pounds - to the NCAA finals a total of seven times during the last 10 years.
THIS LOOKS FAMILIAR
Zach Perkins became the program's first athlete to garner All-America accolades in the 1500-meter run after finishing second at the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championships at Historic Hayward Field. Moving from fifth to second in the final 300 meters, Perkins capped a national meet that included the Academy record (3:41.46) during the semifinal round.
EVERSON WINS THE WEST, ADVANCES TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Hannah Everson broke her own Academy record in the 10,000-meter run to win the West Prelim and earn a spot in the national finals, as she kicked off the NCAA West Preliminary with a thrilling victory on May 28. Ranked 37th in the field of 48, Everson picked her way through crowd before pulling away at the final turn to win the race in a career-best time of 34:23.52.
DID YOU KNOW?
With a time of 34:23.52, Hannah Everson shattered her own Academy record by more than eight second. It marked the second time in as many 10K races this year that Everson has improved a mark that had previously stood for more than 24 years.
BELL MATCHES CAREER HIGH TO ADVANCE TO NCAA FINALS
With a career-best matching clearance of 17'6½", Dylan Bell advanced to his first NCAA Outdoor Championship in the pole vault after placing 10th in the West Prelim on May 30. With the seventh-best mark in Academy history, Bell tied for the best height of the day in the 48-jumper field, after clearing the bar on his third attempt.
PERKINS EARNS RETURN TRIP TO EUGENE
Zach Perkins claimed an automatic bid to the NCAA final site in the 1500-meter run after finishing second in his heat of the regional final on May 30. Perkins, who advanced out of the first-round race with a third-place finish on Thursday, clocked a season-best time of 3:42.93 to finish second in his heat by a mere 0.01-seconds.
QUITE THE WEEK FOR THE ACADEMY'S NEWEST SECOND LIEUTENANT
It was a busy week for Zach Perkins, who was named the winner of the Air Force Athletic Excellence Award on Tuesday (May 26) while traveling to Austin, Texas, for the NCAA West Preliminary. He clocked a 3:46.67 to advance out of the first-round of the 1500-meter run on Thursday (May 28), graduated from the Academy and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force on Friday (May 29) and posted a season-best time of 3:42.93 to qualify to the NCAA Championships on Saturday (May 30).
MORE NEWS FROM THE PRELIMINARY MEET
In addition to the three top-12 finishes, four other Falcons finished within the top half of their respective fields. Taylor Smith tied for 15th in the high jump (6'11¾"), Matt Dorsey finished 20th in the 1500-meter run (3:47.73) and Jamiel Trimble placed 29th in the 110-meter hurdles (wind-aided 14.22), while Grant Hamilton earned top-24 finishes in both the shot put (23rd, 58'4¾") and discus throw (24th, 173'1").
NOT WORRIED ABOUT THE SEEDING
Five Falcons finished at least 10 places above their entry seed at the NCAA West Preliminary on May 28-30, including Hannah Everson, who won the 10,000-meter run as the 37-seed. Zach Perkins and Matt Dorsey both finished more than 20 places ahead of their seeding in the 1500-meter run, as Perkins improved his standing by 29 places (entered 34th, finished fifth) and Dorsey finished 27 spots ahead of his entry mark (entered 47th, finished 20th). Taylor Smith bettered his seeding by 15 places (entered 30th, finished 15th) and Kyle Pater ended 13 spots ahead of his initial seed (entered 45th, finished 32nd).
ESSELSTEIN TABBED AS TOP OVERALL CADET
Rebecca Esselstein was named the top overall graduate for the Class of 2015, which honors excellence in academic, military and athletic performance. A Rhodes Scholar, Esselstein was also named the top cadet, academically, among the Academy's 840 graduate.
Players Mentioned
