Underclassmen Lead Air Force at Potts Invitational

BOULDER, Colo. – Highlighted by one event title and three runner-up finishes, the Air Force track and field team returned to action this afternoon (Jan. 11) with the first four events of the Potts Indoor Invitational at the CU Indoor Practice Facility in Boulder. Competing for the first time in over a month, the Falcons accounted for 14 top-five finishes in the high jump, pole vault, long jump and weight throw.

Sophomore Mitch Lipe led the contingent of field event athletes that made Friday's trip to Boulder, as he capped the night with a victory in the pole vault. Recording a clearance of 15'11" in his season debut, Lipe paced Air Force to the top four collegiate finishes – and four of the top five overall. Freshman Ethan Gardner and junior Chris Doerr tied for third with equal clearances of 14'11", while senior Sam Hinegardner matched that height to finish fifth, based on attempts.

A trio of Academy freshmen earned runner-up finishes at the Potts Invitational, with Erika Willis, Jake Hall and Lashawn Taylor pacing the Falcons in their respective events. Willis matched her career-best clearance of 11'11¾" to take second in the pole vault and lead Air Force to three top-five finishes in that event, while Hall and Taylor collected second-place marks in the high jump (career-best 6'4¾") and long jump (22'0¾"), respectively, to pace the Falcons to a pair of top-five marks in those events.

Freshman Corey Friedenbach and senior Jerni Self joined Willis among the top five of the pole vault standings, as the pair finished fourth and fifth, respectively, behind matching clearances of 11'5¾". Senior Sam Hinegardner recorded a clearance of 6'2¾" to finish fourth in the high jump, while Brown recorded a career-best distance of 21'3¼" to take fifth in his season-debut of the long jump.

Senior Andrea Abel recorded a distance of 16'3¾" to finish third in the long jump, while freshman Kendra Middleton and sophomore Addyson Smith rounded out the Falcons' list of top-five finishes following fifth-place marks in the high jump (career-best 5'5") and weight throw (51'9¼"), respectively.

The Falcons return to Colorado's IPF tomorrow (Jan. 12) for the second day of action at the Potts Indoor Invitational. The final two field events (triple jump, shot put) are slated to begin at 10:00 a.m., while the running events will get underway three hours later.

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