Wyatt Murphy Wins Heptathlon at Air Force Invitational

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – Sophomore Wyatt Murphy tallied a career-best 4780 points to win the heptathlon this afternoon (Jan. 18), as the track and field team continued action at the 30th-annual Air Force Invitational. Overall, the men tallied at least one scoring finish in every contested final, the Falcons combined for nine qualifying finishes in the preliminary races, and sophomore Grace Proesch debuted on the program's all-time standings in the 200-meter dash.

Murphy registered 4780 points – a 532-point personal improvement – to win the heptathlon. The sophomore, who entered the meet in second, tallied a pair of personal-best marks to better the runner-up by more than 100 points. After opening the day with a 757-point performance in the 60-meter hurdles (8.95), Murphy went on to PR in the pole vault (11'3¾", 469 points) and 1000-meter run (3:00.49, 659 points). Gurchiek tallied 3512 points to finish fourth in the final standings after collecting 585 points in the 60-meter hurdles (9.77) and 687 points in the 1000-meter run (2:57.65).

The pair were two of four scorers for the Falcons on Friday afternoon, as freshman Jaret Prete and sophomore Lashawn Taylor also accounted for top-eight finishes in their respective events. Prete recorded a career-best distance of 52'10" to finish sixth in the weight throw, while Taylor accounted for a season-best mark of 22'0¾" to place seventh in the long jump.

In addition to the three finals, three qualifying races also took place today at the Cadet Field House. The squad combined for five finalists in the 400-meter dash (three men, two women), while the men advanced four into the semifinals of the 60-meter dash.

Backed by a third-place time from senior Michael Rhoads (49.10), the men accounted for three of the top six finishes in the preliminary round of the 400-meter dash. Juniors Terrell Davis and Luke Zuluaga joined Rhoads in the final after finishing fifth (49.97) and sixth (49.97), respectively, in the 21-runner event. The women also accounted for a pair of top-six marks in their preliminary, as junior Aubrey Ridgeway placed fifth (season-best 59.89) and senior Kelsey Owens finished sixth (59.64) in the 16-competitor round.

Sophomore Carter Kuehl clocked a career-best time of 7.00 to finish eighth in the opening round of the 60-meter dash and pace a quartet of Falcons into tomorrow's semifinal round. Junior Zachary Dicken clocked a time of 7.01 to finish 11th in the 28-sprinter race, while freshmen Luke Arkell and Devin Broxton finished 15th and 16th, respectively, with matching marks of 7.06 (career-best for Broxton).

Proesch made the only addition to the Academy record book on Friday, as she accounted for the 10th-fastest 200-meter time in program history. Clocking a time of 25.72, the sophomore became the first Falcon to impact that top-10 list in two years and finished ninth in the 21-runner event – missing the final by just 0.01 seconds.

The men are in third after three events, with 25 points. The Falcons return to the Cadet Field House tomorrow (Jan. 18) morning, as they wrap up action at the Air Force Invitational. Action begins on the field at 11:00 a.m. (MT), while the running events get underway two hours later.

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