Friday, February 22
Albuquerque, N.M.
10:00 a.m. MT
Air Force Academy
at
MW Championships
Jacob Bilvado, Maria Mettler Capture 5000-Meter Titles
2/22/2019 9:13:00 PM | Track and Field
The pair swept the conference titles to cap the second day of action at the MW Meet
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Conference titles by senior Jacob Bilvado and sophomore Maria Mettler capped the second day of action for Air Force at the 2019 Mountain West Indoor Track and Field Championships, which continued today (Feb. 22) in Albuquerque. In a meet that was pushed back three hours due to travel issues for several conference opponents, the Falcons collected a pair of titles and six scoring finishes.
Bilvado earned his first conference title after posting a time of 14:34.61 to win the 17-runner 5000-meter race, while Mettler completed Air Force's sweep less than 20 minutes later after clocking a time of 17:09.45 to win the 24-competitor event. Bilvado, who worked his way through the field in the early laps, took control of the race over the final two laps and cruised to a four-second victory. Mettler joined the lead group at the start and stayed with the frontrunners as the pack separated. Like Bilvado, the sophomore took over the lead in the final laps and claimed the three-second lead.
The men collected points during three field event finals today, while the women earned a pair of scoring finishes in the pole vault and added an additional top-eight finish in the 5000-meter run (Teri Brady, sixth in 17:35.61).
On the men's side, junior Victor Osinloye recorded a distance of 58'10" to finish fifth in the weight throw, while senior Sam Hinegardner and freshman Jake Hall tied for that same placement in the high jump (6'5"). Fellow freshman Wyatt Murphy scored for the men in the long jump, as he recorded a distance of 22'10¾" to finish seventh.
Senior Kathryn Tomczak earned runner-up honors in the women's pole vault, as she cleared 13'11¾" to finish second in the 21-jumper event. Classmate Jerni Self also scored for Air Force in the pole vault, as she cleared 13'0¾" to place sixth.
Junior Connor Stevens and sophomore Tyler Gurchiek wrapped up their first conference heptathlon this afternoon, finishing sixth (career-best 4749) and seventh (4510), respectively. Stevens, who used a clearance of 16'8¾" – the second-best height of his career – to win the heptathlon pole vault, added a personal-best time of 2:57.93 in the 1000-meter run and a mark of 9.05 in the 60-meter hurdles to his final day scores. Gurchiek posted marks of 8.81 (60-meter hurdles), 14'5¼" (pole vault) and 2:57.97 (1000-meter run) for a total just 54 points shy of his career high.
Multiple qualifying heats were also contested today, with the men earning 16 spots into tomorrow's finals.
Sophomore Zachary Dicken registered the ninth-fastest 400-meter time in Academy history to pace the Falcons to a 1-2-3 finish during the qualifying round of that event. Dicken registered a time of 47.70 to easily post the fastest time of the 15-runner preliminary round and pace senior Sedacy Walden (48.45) and sophomore Luke Zuluaga (48.98) to a 1-2-3 finish in the qualifying round, while seniors Micah Fontaine (8.10) and David Collins (8.11) went 1-2 in the 60-meter hurdles.
Junior Terrell Bradford won the preliminary round of the 60-meter dash in 6.79 and paced the Falcons to three of the eight qualifying spots, as senior Miguel Molas (6.86) and junior George Brown (6.88) also advanced. Bradford and Molas also earned spots in the finals of the 200-meter dash, as the pair finished second (21.56) and third (21.60), respectively, in that qualifying race.
The men also advanced three runners to the finals in both the 800-meter run and mile. Junior Michael Rhoads clocked a time of 1:51.94 to win the 17-runner qualifier, while seniors Gordon Kowalkowski (1:53.09) and Preston Roche (1:54.06) also advanced into the finals. Fellow senior Noah Riley (4:19.95) and sophomore Scott Johnson (4:20.15) qualified to the finals in the mile by finishing within the top-three of the first heat, while senior Josh Wojciechowski advanced on time after running a 4:19.65 in the second heat.
On the women's side, senior Aryn Maxwell closed out the indoor portion of her senior season with the sixth-fastest 400-meter time in program history. Clocking a time of 56.98, Maxwell deleted 0.06 seconds off the time she set earlier this season.
The Mountain West Indoor Championships conclude tomorrow (Feb. 23). The field events get underway at 10:00 a.m., while the running events of Championship Saturday begin at 11:40 a.m.
Bilvado earned his first conference title after posting a time of 14:34.61 to win the 17-runner 5000-meter race, while Mettler completed Air Force's sweep less than 20 minutes later after clocking a time of 17:09.45 to win the 24-competitor event. Bilvado, who worked his way through the field in the early laps, took control of the race over the final two laps and cruised to a four-second victory. Mettler joined the lead group at the start and stayed with the frontrunners as the pack separated. Like Bilvado, the sophomore took over the lead in the final laps and claimed the three-second lead.
The men collected points during three field event finals today, while the women earned a pair of scoring finishes in the pole vault and added an additional top-eight finish in the 5000-meter run (Teri Brady, sixth in 17:35.61).
On the men's side, junior Victor Osinloye recorded a distance of 58'10" to finish fifth in the weight throw, while senior Sam Hinegardner and freshman Jake Hall tied for that same placement in the high jump (6'5"). Fellow freshman Wyatt Murphy scored for the men in the long jump, as he recorded a distance of 22'10¾" to finish seventh.
Senior Kathryn Tomczak earned runner-up honors in the women's pole vault, as she cleared 13'11¾" to finish second in the 21-jumper event. Classmate Jerni Self also scored for Air Force in the pole vault, as she cleared 13'0¾" to place sixth.
Junior Connor Stevens and sophomore Tyler Gurchiek wrapped up their first conference heptathlon this afternoon, finishing sixth (career-best 4749) and seventh (4510), respectively. Stevens, who used a clearance of 16'8¾" – the second-best height of his career – to win the heptathlon pole vault, added a personal-best time of 2:57.93 in the 1000-meter run and a mark of 9.05 in the 60-meter hurdles to his final day scores. Gurchiek posted marks of 8.81 (60-meter hurdles), 14'5¼" (pole vault) and 2:57.97 (1000-meter run) for a total just 54 points shy of his career high.
Multiple qualifying heats were also contested today, with the men earning 16 spots into tomorrow's finals.
Sophomore Zachary Dicken registered the ninth-fastest 400-meter time in Academy history to pace the Falcons to a 1-2-3 finish during the qualifying round of that event. Dicken registered a time of 47.70 to easily post the fastest time of the 15-runner preliminary round and pace senior Sedacy Walden (48.45) and sophomore Luke Zuluaga (48.98) to a 1-2-3 finish in the qualifying round, while seniors Micah Fontaine (8.10) and David Collins (8.11) went 1-2 in the 60-meter hurdles.
Junior Terrell Bradford won the preliminary round of the 60-meter dash in 6.79 and paced the Falcons to three of the eight qualifying spots, as senior Miguel Molas (6.86) and junior George Brown (6.88) also advanced. Bradford and Molas also earned spots in the finals of the 200-meter dash, as the pair finished second (21.56) and third (21.60), respectively, in that qualifying race.
The men also advanced three runners to the finals in both the 800-meter run and mile. Junior Michael Rhoads clocked a time of 1:51.94 to win the 17-runner qualifier, while seniors Gordon Kowalkowski (1:53.09) and Preston Roche (1:54.06) also advanced into the finals. Fellow senior Noah Riley (4:19.95) and sophomore Scott Johnson (4:20.15) qualified to the finals in the mile by finishing within the top-three of the first heat, while senior Josh Wojciechowski advanced on time after running a 4:19.65 in the second heat.
On the women's side, senior Aryn Maxwell closed out the indoor portion of her senior season with the sixth-fastest 400-meter time in program history. Clocking a time of 56.98, Maxwell deleted 0.06 seconds off the time she set earlier this season.
The Mountain West Indoor Championships conclude tomorrow (Feb. 23). The field events get underway at 10:00 a.m., while the running events of Championship Saturday begin at 11:40 a.m.
Players Mentioned
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100m / 200m
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10,000m / 5000m
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100m / Long Jump
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400m Hurdles / 110m Hurdles
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400m
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110m Hurdles / 200m
/ Track and Field
Decathlon
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High Jump
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High Jump / Pole Vault
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1500m
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800m
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400m Hurdles / 400m
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1500m / 5000m
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100m / 200m
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Decathlon
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Hammer
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800m
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1500m
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800m
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Pole Vault
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Decathlon / Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
400m / 200m
/ Track and Field
1500m
/ Track and Field
400m / 200m
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