Air Force Academy
NCAA West Preliminary
Falcons Advance Three to NCAA Championships
5/27/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
May 27, 2016
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Air Force track and field team qualified three athletes into the finals of next month's NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, as the squad wrapped up the first full day of competition at the West Preliminary Meet in Lawrence, Kan., on Friday, May 27. By finishing within the top 12 of their respective events, senior Hannah Everson (10,000-meter run), classmate Dylan Bell (pole vault) and junior Kyle Pater (pole vault) all earned a spot in the NCAA finals at Historic Hayward Field.
In a race that was moved from late Thursday night to early Friday morning because of yesterday's storms, Everson kicked off the day with a fifth-place finish in the 10,000-meter run. The senior, who began the race in the middle of the pack, picked her way through the front half of a tightly packed field during the 25-lap race. While three runners separated themselves from the field with 10 laps left, Everson remained at the front of the chase pack to earn a spot in the top 12, and with a time of 34:25.26, she finished fifth in the 48-runner event and advanced to her second straight NCAA final.
Bell and Pater, who were also initially scheduled to compete on Thursday, saw today's pole vault competition moved inside the Jayhawks' indoor facility, as another round of approaching storms caused the events' committee to move the meet. Pater, ranked 16th in the region, was the second competitor on the main runway and easily cleared the opening height of 16'4". The junior added nearly one foot to his daily series, as he finished eighth in the overall field with a clearance of 17'3¾". Bell, who passed on the opening bar, cleared 16'10" on his final attempt of his debut vault. Clearing 17'3¾" on his first attempt, Bell made the 17'7¾" bar on second attempt and finished fourth when competition was stopped once the 12 finalists were selected.
The advancement of Bell and Pater marks the first time that Air Force has sent two vaulters to the final site – and the eighth time in 10 years that the Falcons have qualified an athlete into the pole vault finals. It also the second straight outdoor final for Bell, who earned second-team All-America honors last year.
Sophomore Shelley Spires joined the pole vaulters inside Anschutz Field House, as the threat of inclement weather forced the high jump indoors as well. Clearing 5'9¼" – her second-highest jump of the season, Spires finished 16th out of 48 competitors.
Back at Rock Chalk Park, junior Zach Johnson finished within the top half of the 100-meter dash quarterfinals, as he placed 24th with a time of 10.51. Senior Spencer Baldwin, who competed in the opening flight of the hammer throw yesterday before lightning forced the meet to be suspended, finished 25th overall (197'1") as the final round was completed this morning.
One member of the Falcons' Friday lineup was forced to wait another day, as a new band of storms that pushed through Kansas this afternoon and evening delayed Grant Hamilton's appearance in the discus throw until tomorrow morning.
The west preliminary of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships will conclude tomorrow (May 28), with all action scheduled to take place at Rock Chalk Park. Action begins for the Falcons at 9:00 a.m. (CT), when sophomore John Reynolds competes in the triple jump.
Players Mentioned
