Air Force Quartet Heads to NCAA Championships
3/8/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
FalconVision Interview with Coach Lindeman
Meet Notes 09: at NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships 
The indoor season comes to a close this weekend, as four members of the Air Force track and field team travel to College Station, Texas, for the 2017 NCAA Division I Indoor Championships. Senior Kyle Pater (pole vault), junior Shelley Spires (high jump) and sophomore Kathryn Tomczak (pole vault) will all be making their first appearance at the national indoor meet, while junior Jamiel Trimble (200-meter dash) will be making his second.
MEET INFORMATION
The 2017 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships will take place at Texas A&M's Rhonda and Frosty Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium in College Station, Texas, on Friday-Saturday (March 10-11). All-session tickets are $26, while single day admission is $15. Overall action gets underway at noon both days (a list of competition times for Air Force athletes are listed in the Meet Information box).
IF YOU CAN'T MAKE IT TO THE MEET
ESPN3 will stream the meet both days, with Dwight Stones, Larry Rawson, John Anderson and Larra Overson on the call. The feed is slated to begin at 6:30 p.m., on Friday, March 10, and 5:00 p.m., on Saturday, March 11, while a tape-delayed composite show will air Sunday, March 12, at 7:00 p.m., on ESPN2 (all times Eastern). In addition, live stats will be available through FlashResults.com and the Championship Central site at 12thman.com.
WHERE THEY RANK IN THE NCAA
Heading into the NCAA Championships, two Falcons are currently listed in the nation's top five. Kyle Pater is ranked third in the pole vault (18'6½"), while Shelley Spires is ranked fourth in the high jump (6'1½"). Kathryn Tomczak and Jamiel Trimble are both listed 13th in the national standings of pole vault (13'11¾") and 200-meter dash (20.67), respectively.
MORE INFO ON THE "SWEET 16" CONTENDERS
Jamiel Trimble is making his second straight appearance at the NCAA Indoor Championships, after capturing second-team All-America status in the 200-meter dash last year. Kyle Pater, who was named a second-team All-American in the pole vault at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships, is making his first appearance at the indoor meet. With their first trip to the NCAA finals, Shelley Spires and Kathryn Tomczak marked the first time since Air Force joined Division I that more than one woman has qualified to an indoor championship meet.
HISTORY 101
The Falcons have claimed 24 All-America accolades at the NCAA Indoor Championships, with Hannah Everson earning the women's first Division I award at last year's championship meet. Paul Gensic, Cale Simmons, Justin Tyner, Joey Uhle and Doug Withers are the program's most decorated indoor All-Americans, with two individual honors apiece. Tyner also added a third selection as a member of the distance medley relay that competed in 2011. The women accounted for 23 All-America nods at the NCAA Division II level, with Callie Calhoun and Jill Wood earning national titles.
FAST FACT
Kyle Pater's appearance in the pole vault lineup at the NCAA Indoor Championships marks the ninth time in 10 years that Air Force has qualified a pole vaulter to the national meet. Five Falcons have now combined for 11 appearances in that event.
SPIRES NABS USTFCCCA REGIONAL ACCOLADE
Shelley Spires was named the USTFCCCA Mountain Region Women's Field Athlete of the Year on March 6 – becoming the first Air Force female to earn a regional Field Athlete award during the indoor season.
MORE ON SPIRES' HIGH-FLYING SEASON
Shelley Spires, the first high jumper in program history to break the six-foot bar, entered the NCAA weekend ranked fourth in the country with an Academy- and Mountain West-record clearance of 6'1½". The junior reset the program record four times, while earning the program's first MW indoor high jump title and claimed four MW Field Athlete of the Week awards this season.
FOUR FALCONS QUALIFY FOR NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Kyle Pater (pole vault), Shelley Spires (high jump), Kathryn Tomczak (pole vault) and Jamiel Trimble (200-meter dash) were selected to compete at the 2017 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships – the second-largest indoor field in Academy history.
LOOKING AT THE NATIONAL LANDSCAPE
Air Force finished the regular season listed among the nation's top 15 in three of the four vertical jump events, including two rankings within the nation's top four. Kyle Pater (men's pole vault, 18'6 ½") and Shelley Spires (women's high jump, 6'1 ½") are ranked third and fourth, respectively, in their signature events, while Kathryn Tomczak is ranked 13th in the women's pole vault (13'11¾"). Jamiel Trimble is listed among the nation's top 30 in the 200-meter dash (13th, 20.67) and 60-meter hurdles (16th, 7.74), while Jacob Bilvado is ranked among the top 40 in the 5000-meter run (31st, 13:56.93) and 3000-meter run (38th, 8:01.59a). Zach Johnson (300-meter dash, 32nd in 34.37) and Matt Dorsey (mile, 40th in 4:01.40) are also listed among the nation's top 40.
UNOFFICIALLY-SPEAKING
Although this is an unofficial statistical category, Air Force has two squads listed among the top 10 of the USTFCCCA's Event Group Rankings (measured by adding a team's best four ranked performances in each event). The men's weight throw contingent of Malachi Sparling, Reed McGuire, Brooks Hardy and Darby Maier combined for a total distance of 242'9" to finish the season ranked sixth in the nation, while the pole vault squad of Kyle Pater, Connor Stevens, Logan Grizzle and Sam Hinegardner are ranked eighth with a combined height of 67'9".
WHAT'S ON DECK
With the indoor season complete, Air Force turns its attention outdoors. The Falcons open the second half of the season on March 17-18, when they split for the Baldy Castillo Classic (Tempe, Ariz.) and the Jerry Quiller Classic (Boulder, Colo.).
Players Mentioned
