Falcons Travel to New Mexico Team Invitational
1/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Jan. 28, 2016
The Air Force track and field team travels to Albuquerque, N.M., this Saturday (Jan. 30) for the New Mexico Team Invitational at the ABQ Convention Center. The nine-team scoring meet, which is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m., features four nationally-ranked teams and three conference opponents.
Meet Notes 05: at New Mexico Team Invitational 
MEET INFORMATION
The New Mexico Team Invitational will be held at the ABQ Convention Center in downtown Albuquerque. A complete order of events is listed below. Live results will be available on LiveRunningResults.com, while in-meet updates will be available on the team's Twitter account (@af_trackfield).
WHO'S WHO
A total of nine teams are slated to compete at the New Mexico Team Invitational, including four that are nationally-ranked. The full field includes Air Force, California, Colorado State, Kansas State (No. 4 women, No. 24 men), Nebraska (No. 13 men), New Mexico, Texas Tech (No. 15 men), TCU (No. 10 men) and Utah State.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
9:00 a.m.: Women's Weight Throw, Men's Weight Throw, Women's Shot Put, Men's Shot Put; 9:30 a.m.: Women's High Jump, Men's High Jump; 10:00 a.m.: Women's Pole Vault, Men's Pole Vault 11:00 a.m.: Women's Long Jump, Women's Triple Jump; 11:00 a.m.: Men's Long Jump, Men's Triple Jump; 12:00 p.m.: 600-Meter Run, 60-Meter Hurdles (prelim), 60-Meter Dash (prelim), Mile Run, 60-Meter Hurdles (final), 400-Meter Dash, 60-Meter Dash (final), 800-Meter Run, 200-Meter Dash, 3000-Meter Run, 4x400-Meter Relay (with the exception of the 600-meter run, the men will compete first in all running events.
WE'LL BE SEEING YOU
A small contingent of Falcons will be competing this Saturday in Albuquerque, but the full Air Force squad will return to the ABQ Convention Center next month (Feb. 25-27), when the Lobos host the 2016 Mountain West Indoor Track and Field Championships.
CORONA LEADS NCAA IN MILE
Registering an Academy-record time of 3:59.77 (adjusted for altitude) to win the mile at the Air Force Invitational on Jan. 23, Patrick Corona took over the NCAA lead in that event, becoming just the second miler this season to break the four-minute mark. He is one of two Falcons ranked within the top five of the national standings at the end of the season's second month, as Matt Dorsey is ranked fifth with a time of 4:02.20a. In addition, Kyle Eller is ranked 19th in that event with a career-best time of 4:05.78a.
LOOKING AT THE NATIONAL LANDSCAPE
In addition to the trio of milers ranked in the nation's top 20, five other Falcons are listed among the nation's top 25 in this week's standings. With two clearances of 17'6½", Dylan Bell remains in the top 10 (seventh) of the pole vault, while Kyle Pater is listed 24th in that event following a height of 17'0¾" at the Air Force Invitational. Taylor Smith is ranked 11th with a high jump mark of 7'1", while Jamiel Trimble holds top-25 rankings in the 200-meter dash (21.03, 14th) and 60-meter hurdles (7.90, 21st).
AIR FORCE DUO EARNS WEEKLY CONFERENCE AWARDS
Air Force captured a pair of conference awards for the second straight week on Jan. 26, as Patrick Corona was named the MW Men's Track Athlete of the Week and Kathryn Tomczak was named the MW Women's Field Athlete of the Week. It is the fifth career award for Corona and the first for Tomczak.
MAKING HISTORY
With a winning time of 3:59.77 (altitude) at the Air Force Invitational, Patrick Corona became the first runner in Air Force history to run a sub-four in the mile. Clocking the nation's fastest time, Corona also took two seconds off of the Senior Class Record that had been in place for a decade. With an actual time of 4:09.19, he also shattered the AF Invitational Meet Record, taking more than three seconds off of the previous best time.
GOING UP...
Kathryn Tomczak became just the fourth vaulter in Academy history to surpass the 13-foot bar in the pole vault, as she cleared a career-best 13'3½" to finish as the top collegiate in the seeded section of the Air Force Invitational on Jan. 23. Improving her own height by four inches, Tomczak moved into third on the Academy's all-time list and bettered the Freshman Class Record that she had previously shared.
TRIMBLE BREAKS ACADEMY RECORD AT 200 METERS
Jamiel Trimble clocked a new Academy standard in the 200-meter dash during a winning performance on Jan. 23. The sophomore clocked a time of 21.03 to better the field by 0.13 seconds and break a program record that had stood since 1999.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE...
Zach Johnson also impacted the Academy record book in the 200-meter dash over the Jan. 22-23 weekend. The junior debuted in 10th on the all-time list (21.69) during Friday's qualifying, before improving his time to 21.41 – the fifth-fastest time in program history – during the event finals on Saturday.
THE BIG 4-0
With a career-best distance of 40'3½", Angelea Ross became just the second triple jumper in Academy history to surpass the 40-foot mark in competition. Ross, who already held the No. 2 placement on the Academy's all-time list with a previous best mark of 39'7¼", improved that distance twice during the six-jump series, earning runner-up honors on her final leap.
WHAT'S ON DECK
Air Force returns to the Academy next Friday (Feb. 5), hosting North Dakota State, South Dakota and Wichita State at the Air Force Team Challenge. The meet, the Falcons last home contest of the indoor season, is slated to get underway at 3:00 p.m.
