Air Force Heads to Oregon for NCAA Championships
6/5/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
FalconVision Interview with Coach Lindeman
Meet Notes 18: at NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships 
The collegiate track and field season comes to a close this week, as Air Force sends a program-record 10 Falcons to Eugene, Ore., for the 2017 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
MEET INFORMATION
The 2017 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which will run from June 7-10, will be held at Oregon's Historic Hayward Field for the fifth-straight year. The men's events will take place on Wednesday and Friday, while the women will compete on Thursday and Saturday. Four-day ticket packages begin at $80 for adults, while single-day admission prices begin at $20. 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).
IF YOU CAN'T MAKE IT TO EUGENE
The NCAA Outdoor Championships will be broadcast live, in its entirety, on the ESPN Family of Networks. ESPN3 will air continuous coverage during each day of competition, while additional broadcasts will be available on ESPNU (June 7 - 4:30-5:30), ESPN2 (June 7 - 5:30-8:00; June 8 - 4:30-8:00) and ESPN (June 9 - 5:30-8:00; June 10 - 3:30-6:00). All times Pacific.
BY THE NUMBERS
Of the 138 men's teams that are sending at least one individual to Eugene for the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Air Force's six event bids (three sprints/hurdles, one middle distance, two relays) are tied for the 11th-most in the nation. The Falcons are also tied for the most men's bids in the Mountain West and the second-most men's bids amongst schools outside of a Power 5 conference.
WHO TO WATCH
The Falcons will send a program-high 10 individuals to Historic Hayward Field this week, including Jamiel Trimble, who will compete in four different events. The junior will run in the 200-meter dash and 110-meter hurdles, while anchoring the 4x100-meter (Terrell Bradford, Zach Johnson, Robbie Anderson) and 4x400-meter (Sedacy Walden, Chip White, Tyler Koss). Walden will also run, individually, in the 400-meter dash, while Matt Dorsey will compete in the 1500-meter run. On the women's side, Shelley Spires and Kathryn Tomczak will compete in the national finals of the high jump and pole vault, respectively.
HOW THEY GOT THERE
The Falcons qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships following top-12 finishes in their respective events at the West Preliminary Meet in Austin, Texas, on May 25-27. Jamiel Trimble finished second in his quarterfinal heat of the 200-meter dash (20.30) to earn an automatic bid to Eugene, while placing eighth in the 110-meter hurdles for an at-large spot. Matt Dorsey and Sedacy Walden earned at-large spots in the 1500-meter run (3:49.03, seventh) and 400-meter dash (45.81, 12th), respectively, while the 4x400-meter relay earned an automatic bid (3:05.98, third in heat) and the 4x100-meter relay nabbed an at-large berth (39.53, 11th). Although Prelim rules state that field events end once the original 48-competitor field has been whittled down to 12, Shelley Spires was tied for first in the high jump (5'10½") at that point and Kathryn Tomczak won a jump off in the pole vault to earn the 11th spot with a clearance of 14'1¼"
DID YOU KNOW?
Shelley Spires and Kathryn Tomczak mark the first time since 2010 – and just the second time since 2006 – that the Air Force women have sent multiple athletes to final site of the NCAA Outdoor Championships. It is also the first time in seven years that the women have had a finalist in a field event.
THIS LOOKS FAMILIAR
After making their NCAA Outdoor debuts last season, the quartet of Robbie Anderson, Matt Dorsey, Zach Johnson and Jamiel Trimble will be making their second-straight trip to the final site of the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
DID YOU KNOW?
While Kathryn Tomczak is the first member of the women's team to ever advance to the pole vault finals of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Air Force has had at least one athlete compete in that event during nine of the last 11 years.
HISTORY 101
A total of 22 Falcons have combined for 31 All-America awards at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, while the women have accounted for 24 additional awards (11 individuals, three relays) at the NCAA Division II level (1981-96). Nick Frawley, Sara Neubauer and Dana Pounds lead the Academy's Division I outdoor record book with three All-America awards each, while Pounds (javelin throw: 2005, 2006) and Jim Murphy (5000-meter run: 1964) are the Falcons' two Division I national champions.
LINDEMAN, SPIRES HONORED BY USTFCCCA
Ralph Lindeman and Shelley Spires were honored by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on June 4, as Lindeman was named the Mountain Region Men's Head Coach of the Year, while Spires was tabbed as the Women's Field Athlete of the Year for the Mountain Region. It is the second-straight outdoor season that has seen Air Force earn two regional awards (2016: Lindeman, Men's Head Coach of the Year; Jamiel Trimble, Men's Track Athlete of the Year).
Players Mentioned
