Air Force Academy
MW Championships
Malachi Sparling Leads Falcons to Weight Throw Sweep
2/24/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Results | Men's MW Championships (Friday) 
| Results | Women's MW Championships (Friday)
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Senior Malachi Sparling registered an Academy-best throw of 63'10¼" to lead Air Force to a 1-2-3 sweep of the medals in the weight throw at the Mountain West Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday (Feb. 24). The throwers were three of 15 scorers for the Falcons during the second day of action.
Sparling rewrote the program's weight throw standard twice during the meet, before finishing with a career-best height of 63'10¼" – and the program's first-ever Mountain West weight throw title. Senior Reed McGuire surpassed the 60-foot mark on his final attempt to take second, while fellow junior Brooks Hardy took third with a toss of 59'11¼". The Falcons earned half of the eight scoring finishes in that event, as senior Darby Maier finished eighth with a throw of 57'5".
Air Force received three scoring finishes in the heptathlon, as junior Calvin Berstler, classmate Tyler Berson and sophomore Walker Newell wrapped up their second day of action. Berstler posted a career-best total of 5313 – the fourth-best total in program history – to finish fourth, while Berson debuted in ninth on the Academy's all-time standings after accumulating a career-high total of 5017 to finish fifth. Newell added over 100 points to his career total to finish sixth with 4888 points.
Berstler capped his heptathlon with a third-place time of 2:46.42 and fourth-place marks in the 60-meter hurdles (8.48) and pole vault (14'3¼"). Berson earned runner-up honors in the pole vault (14'11") and 1000-meter run (2:46.22), while finishing sixth in the in the 60-meter hurdles (career-best 8.77), and Newell won the pole vault (career-best 15'7"), took third in the hurdles (career-best 8.36) and finished sixth in the 1000-meter run (3:05.42).
The Falcons earned a pair of scoring finishes in the high jump, including a third-place finish from sophomore Sam Hinegardner. Improving his career-best clearance to 6'11½" to claim his first MW medal and better his No. 7 placement on the program's all-time standings. Just hours after finishing fourth in the heptathlon, Berstler earned an eighth-place finish at 6'4¾". The Falcons also received multiple points in the 5000-meter run, as junior Andrew Johnston finished fourth in a time of 14:58.31 and senior Kyle Eller placed eighth in a time of 15:08.75.
After two days, the men are in second with 55 points. No. 11 Colorado State leads the standings with 88 points, while Air Force and New Mexico (34) round out the top three. Utah State (28), Wyoming (17) and Boise State (6) are ranked fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, after six events.
On the women's side, Air Force claimed multiple scoring finishes in the pole vault and 5000-meter run.
Sophomore Kathryn Tomczak finished fourth in the pole vault with a clearance of 13'5¼", while classmate Jerni Self placed sixth with a mark of 12'9½". On the track, sophomore Jaci Smith and senior Lindy Long finished sixth (16:55.94) and eighth (17:07.50), respectively, in the 5000-meter run. When converted for the altitude of Albuquerque, Smith's time of 16:29.07a is the second-fastest time in Air Force history, while Long's 16:40.33a is the program's third-fastest time.
After six events, the women are in 10th with 13 points. New Mexico is the two-day leader with 35.50 points, while just six points separate the rest of the top five – Fresno State (28), Nevada (26), Colorado State (25.50), Boise State (24), UNLV (22). The remaining five teams – Wyoming (19), San Jose State (15), Utah State (14), Air Force, San Diego State (12) – are split by just seven points.
In addition to the finals that were contested today, several qualifying races were contested.
The men accounted for four of the finalists in the 60-meter dash, three of the finalists in the 200-meter dash and two of the finalists in the 60-meter hurdles, 800-meter run and 400-meter dash.
Junior Jamiel Trimble advanced in three events, after posting the fastest qualifying time in the 60-meter dash (6.75), the fastest qualifying time in the 200-meter dash (20.98) and winning his heat of the 60-meter hurdles (7.87). Trimble also impacted the program record book during qualifying, as his time in the 60-meter dash is the third-fastest time in Academy history.
The Falcons' two qualifiers in the 400-meter dash both impacted the Academy record book during their run, as junior Tyler Koss clocked the seventh-fastest time in program history (47.70) to finish seventh and freshman Brandon Sanders posted the eighth-fastest time (47.82) to finish fourth.
Senior Zach Johnson, Newell and junior Robbie Anderson qualified with Trimble in the 60-meter dash, as Johnson finished third (6.86), Newell took sixth (6.92/6.914) and Anderson placed seventh (6.92/6.916). Anderson and Johnson will also join Trimble in the 200-meter finals, as the pair finished fifth (21.62) and sixth (21.63), respectively. Sophomore Micah Fontaine rounded out the Falcons' qualifiers in the sprints/hurdles, as he ran an 8.08 to finish sixth in the opening round of the 60-meter hurdles.
The Falcons also saw senior Matt Dorsey and freshman Michael Rhoads advance in the 800-meter run, as Dorsey posted a fourth-place time of 1:51.50 and Rhoads clocked a fifth-place time of 1:51.98.
Freshman Megan Irvine clocked the second-fastest qualifying time in the 400-meter dash (54.91) to advance to the finals and move into second on the Academy's all-time list, while junior Carina Gillespie earned an automatic bid into the finals of the mile after finishing third in her heat with a time of 4:57.88.
The record book saw two additional improvements in the women's races, as freshman Ashley Cameron recorded the sixth-fastest 60-meter hurdles time in Academy history (8.96) and sophomore Kaliyah Gorman added the program's sixth-fastest 400-meter time (57.14).
Air Force concludes action at the Mountain West Indoor Track and Field Championships tomorrow (Feb. 25), when the final day of competition kicks off with the women's shot put at 10:00 a.m. (MT).
Players Mentioned
