Men Second, Women Fourth at Air Force Team Challenge

Jan. 19, 2018

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – The Air Force track and field team made four improvements to the Academy record book and collected six first-place finishes this evening (Jan. 19), as the men finished second and the women placed fourth at the annual Air Force Team Challenge.

Backed by the seventh-best indoor high jump in men's program history, Air Force swept the event titles in the four vertical events. Senior John Reynolds, in his first high jump appearance of the season, cleared 6'11½" to win that event and debut in a tie for seventh on the team's all-time standings. He also paced the Falcons to a one-two sweep in that event, as junior Sam Hinegardner, who now shares the No. 7 mark with Reynolds, finished second with a season-best clearance of 6'10¼". Senior Shelley Spires cleared the six-foot bar for the first time this season and reset her own Senior Class Record for the third-straight meet with a winning clearance of 6'0".

Junior Kathryn Tomczak won the women's pole vault with a clearance of 12'11½", while sophomore Connor Stevens finished first in the men's event after matching his career-best height of 16'8¾". Stevens paced the Falcons to two of the top-three finishes in the men's pole vault, as freshman Justin Harmon, who completed the heptathlon earlier in the day, finished third with a clearance of 16'0¾".

Freshman Hannah Nance and junior Jerni Self also scored for Air Force in the vertical events, as Nance cleared 5'5" to finish eighth in the high jump and Self posted a height of 11'5¾" to finish ninth in the pole vault.

Junior Jacob Bilvado and sophomore Michael Rhoads added first-place finishes for the men, as they won the mile (4:18.41) and 800-meter run (1:52.38), respectively. The pair led Air Force to two of the top-three finishes in both events, as junior Noah Riley finished third in the mile (4:18.92) and senior Zac Petrie earned the same placement in the 800-meter run (1:53.39).

Highlighted by the fourth-fastest 200-meter time in Academy history, the women made two improvements to their top-10 standings during today's meet. Freshman Aubrey Ridgeway clocked a time of 25.06 – the fourth-fastest time in program history – to earn runner-up honors in the 200-meter dash, while classmate Devyn Jones matched her career-best time of 8.89 – the sixth-fastest mark in Air Force history – to finish fourth in the finals of that event.

The top-two finishers from each school counted toward the team's final overall score. Wichita State won the men's team title with 134 points, while Air Force finished second with 122. BYU, ranked 20th in the preseason poll, finished 10 points back (112), while sixth-ranked Colorado State finished fourth with 78 points. BYU won the women's title with 146 points, while Wichita State (second, 118.50), BYU (third, 112) and Air Force (fourth, 90) rounded out the scoring field.

In addition to his victory in the high jump, Reynolds also scored for Air Force in the long jump, as he and classmate Jake LaCoste finished sixth (season-debut 22'11¾") and seventh (carer-best 22'11"), respectively. Senior Jackson Spalding and junior Garrett Coalson finished fourth (career-best 54'10¼") and sixth (52'10¼"), respectively, in the shot put, while senior Brooks Hardy (fifth, season-best 54'7¼") added a top-10 mark in the weight throw. Freshman Trey Giullory (44'11½") and sophomore Anthony Davis (44'6¼") rounded out the Falcons' top-10 finishers from the field, as they placed seventh and eighth, respectively, in the triple jump.

On the track, senior David Collins (third, career-best 8.05) and junior Micah Fontaine (fourth, 8.13) posted top-five finishes in the 60-meter hurdles, while senior Trent Holmes finished sixth in the 60-meter dash with a personal-best time of 6.95.

Junior Shanna Burns (fourth, 5:12.39) and freshman Maria Mettler (fifth, 5:14.52) posted top-five finishes in the women's mile, while freshman Mahala Norris posted a fifth-place time of 2:16.37 in the 800-meter run. Sophomore Swathi Samuel joined Norris in the top-10 of the 800-meter event (ninth, 2:31.26), while classmate Megan Irvine and junior Aryn Maxwell placed sixth (58.71) and ninth (1:00.43), respectively, in the 400-meter dash.

Junior Andrea Abel and sophomore Lucy Zimmerman scored for the Falcons in both the long jump and triple jump, as Abel finished seventh (long: season-debut 16'7¾"; triple: 36'10½") and Zimmerman placed eighth (long: season-debut 15'11"; triple: 36'7") in both events. Freshman Meghan Carbiener rounded out the Falcons' top-10 field event finishers, with a ninth-place distance of 45'10" in the weight throw.

The Falcons return to action next weekend, when they host the Air Force Invitational on Jan. 26-27.

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