Air Force Wraps up Opening Day of Don Kirby Invitational

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Highlighted by the seventh-fastest 400-meter time in Air Force women's history from sophomore Grace Proesch, a small contingent of track and field athletes opened competition at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational this afternoon (Feb. 13) in Albuquerque.

Proesch debuted on the program's all-time standings of the 400-meter dash after posting a career-best time of 57.17 to easily win her heat and finish 13th in the full 43-runner event. Overall, the Falcons placed three within the top half of the field, as classmate Michelle Roca finished 19th with a career-best time of 58.12 and senior Kelsey Owens placed 21st with a mark of 58.33. In Air Force's only other race of the day, junior Aubrey Ridgeway posted her fastest 200-meter time in two years – 24.90 – to finish 33rd out of 109 runners and finish just 0.09 off of a Junior Class Record that has stood for the last 37 years.

Sophomore Frankie Porambo registered the first 12-foot clearance of her collegiate career during this afternoon's session of the pole vault, as she surpassed the 12'2" bar on her first attempt to finish tied for 14th in the 24-vaulter event. Classmate Ari Martinez finished 10th in the seeded section of the high jump after recording a mark of 5'5¼", while junior Kathleen Medill picked up a third-place finish in the open section of that event following a jump of 5'3¼".

On the men's side, senior Terrell Bradford posted a season-best time of 21.31 – a mark just 0.08 shy of his career best and own No. 5 time in program history – to finish fifth in the 71-sprinter field of the 200-meter dash. The senior was one of three top-10 finishers on the track for Air Force, as junior Luke Zuluaga paced a trio of Falcons to top-10 marks in today's session of the 400-meter dash. Zuluaga registered a season-best time of 48.76 to finish sixth in the full 37-runner event, while sophomore Sean Geither and junior Terrell Davis finished ninth (48.82) and 10th (48.98), respectively, behind career-best times.

The Falcons also accounted for three top-10 finishes from the infield of the ABQ Convention Center. Sophomore Ryan Brown recorded a clearance of 15'1¾" to finish sixth in today's section of the pole vault, while senior Chris Doerr posted a season-best mark of 14'8" to tie for ninth. Junior Addison Brown added a 10th-place finish in the high jump after matching his career-best height of 6'8".

Air Force closes out its run at the Don Kirby Invitational tomorrow (Feb. 14), beginning at 9:00 a.m. (MT), while members of the Falcons' distance squad opens competition at the Iowa State Classic in Ames.

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