Friday, March 29
Stanford, Calif.
2:30 p.m. MT
Air Force Academy
at
Stanford Invitational
Steeplechase Record Highlights Distance Team’s Day in California
3/29/2019 11:59:00 PM | Track and Field
A program record by Lindsey Blanks was one of six record book improvements on Friday.
STANFORD, Calif. – Air Force junior Lindsey Blanks shattered the Academy record in the 3000-meter steeplechase this evening (March 29), as the track and field team's distance squad wrapped up competition at the prestigious Stanford Invitational and Mike Fanelli Track Classic. Blanks was one of six Falcons to impact the Academy's all-time standings during the two meets.
Clocking a time of 10:17.72, Blanks deleted 12 seconds off of her previous best steeplechase time to crush the program's six-year-old standard by almost nine seconds. Finishing seventh in her section of the Stanford Invitational, Blanks also deleted nearly 17 seconds from the program's Junior Class Record.
The program's 5000-meter standings earned a major update today, as the squad combined for four total updates between the men's and women's teams. Senior Jacob Bilvado moved into third on the men's all-time standings after clocking a career-best time of 13:47.65 to finish fourth out of 21 runners in his section of the Stanford Invitational. On the women's side, sophomore Mahala Norris improved her No. 6 standing in the record book with personal-best 5000-meter time of 16:34.23 to finish ninth in her section at Stanford. Classmate Maria Mettler leapfrogged Norris in the very next section, as she jumped from seventh to third on the Academy's all-time list behind a career-best time of 16:17.17 (12th in her group). Junior Swathi Samuel debuted on the list less than 20 minutes later, as she ran the 10th-fastest time in program history (16:55.56) to finish seventh in her section and 23rd out of 157 runners at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic.
Junior Teri Brady also impacted the top of the Falcons' record book tonight, as she accounted for the fourth-fastest 10,000-meter time in program history during the final women's race of the day at Stanford. Crossing the finish line in a time of 34:16.60, Brady cut more than two minutes off of her previous best time to vault from 10th to fourth on the program's all-time standings.
In addition, over at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic, senior Nathan Thomas – competing in his first event since the cross country season – posted a 5000-meter time of 14:15.28 to win his section and finish ninth in the combined 227-runner event at Chabot College (fourth collegiate finisher). Junior Patrick Sullivan finished 36th in the overall field (14:28.98), while senior Erik McMillian (14:56.35, 87th) and sophomore Drew Lester (15:10.79, 113th) placed within the top half of the lineup during their outdoor debuts. On the women's side, freshman Mikayla Gallagher posted a 5000-meter debut time of 17:12.91 to finish third in her section and 40th in the 157-runner field.
Three Falcons competed in 1500-meter races during the two competitions this evening. Senior Noah Riley finished within the top-half of his section at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic (3:51.47), en route to a ninth-place finish in the full 142-runner event, while classmate Josh Wojciechowski finished third in his section (3:55.58) and 40th overall. Sophomore Scott Johnson competed in that event at the Stanford Invitational and posted a season-opening time of 3:54.60 to finish third in his section.
Junior Justin Weber represented the Academy in the 10,000-meter race at Chabot College late Thursday (March 28) night and posted an event-debut time of 30:28.44 to finish 41st in the 109-runner field.
Air Force returns to action next weekend for a pair of meets. The multi-event athletes will head to Tucson, Ariz., for the Jim Click Decathlon on April 4-5, while the remainder of the squad heads to Boulder on April 5-6 for the annual Colorado Invitational.
Clocking a time of 10:17.72, Blanks deleted 12 seconds off of her previous best steeplechase time to crush the program's six-year-old standard by almost nine seconds. Finishing seventh in her section of the Stanford Invitational, Blanks also deleted nearly 17 seconds from the program's Junior Class Record.
The program's 5000-meter standings earned a major update today, as the squad combined for four total updates between the men's and women's teams. Senior Jacob Bilvado moved into third on the men's all-time standings after clocking a career-best time of 13:47.65 to finish fourth out of 21 runners in his section of the Stanford Invitational. On the women's side, sophomore Mahala Norris improved her No. 6 standing in the record book with personal-best 5000-meter time of 16:34.23 to finish ninth in her section at Stanford. Classmate Maria Mettler leapfrogged Norris in the very next section, as she jumped from seventh to third on the Academy's all-time list behind a career-best time of 16:17.17 (12th in her group). Junior Swathi Samuel debuted on the list less than 20 minutes later, as she ran the 10th-fastest time in program history (16:55.56) to finish seventh in her section and 23rd out of 157 runners at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic.
Junior Teri Brady also impacted the top of the Falcons' record book tonight, as she accounted for the fourth-fastest 10,000-meter time in program history during the final women's race of the day at Stanford. Crossing the finish line in a time of 34:16.60, Brady cut more than two minutes off of her previous best time to vault from 10th to fourth on the program's all-time standings.
In addition, over at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic, senior Nathan Thomas – competing in his first event since the cross country season – posted a 5000-meter time of 14:15.28 to win his section and finish ninth in the combined 227-runner event at Chabot College (fourth collegiate finisher). Junior Patrick Sullivan finished 36th in the overall field (14:28.98), while senior Erik McMillian (14:56.35, 87th) and sophomore Drew Lester (15:10.79, 113th) placed within the top half of the lineup during their outdoor debuts. On the women's side, freshman Mikayla Gallagher posted a 5000-meter debut time of 17:12.91 to finish third in her section and 40th in the 157-runner field.
Three Falcons competed in 1500-meter races during the two competitions this evening. Senior Noah Riley finished within the top-half of his section at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic (3:51.47), en route to a ninth-place finish in the full 142-runner event, while classmate Josh Wojciechowski finished third in his section (3:55.58) and 40th overall. Sophomore Scott Johnson competed in that event at the Stanford Invitational and posted a season-opening time of 3:54.60 to finish third in his section.
Junior Justin Weber represented the Academy in the 10,000-meter race at Chabot College late Thursday (March 28) night and posted an event-debut time of 30:28.44 to finish 41st in the 109-runner field.
Air Force returns to action next weekend for a pair of meets. The multi-event athletes will head to Tucson, Ariz., for the Jim Click Decathlon on April 4-5, while the remainder of the squad heads to Boulder on April 5-6 for the annual Colorado Invitational.
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