Falcons Have Strong Showing in Home Finale

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – Seven event titles, four top-collegiate finishes and one improvement to the Academy record book highlighted the final home meet of the indoor season for the track and field team, as it hosted the Air Force Collegiate Open at the Academy on Friday, Feb. 21. In their final tune-up before the conference championships, the Falcons collected 38 top-five finishes.

Sophomore Grace Proesch continued her climb up the Academy's all-time standings, as she clocked a time of 25.36 – the sixth-fastest mark in program history – to easily win the 15-sprinter 200-meter dash. She was one of three sophomores to claim victories on the track, as Brid O'Connell won the 400-meter dash in 58.09 and Adrianna Wilder finished first in the 5000-meter run after posting a time of 18:50.75.

The women swept the event titles from inside the throwing cage, as junior Addyson Smith won the shot put with a mark of 42'2¾" and classmate Meghan Carbiener finished first in the weight throw behind a distance of 53'4½". Sophomore Erika Willis was the top collegiate finisher in the pole vault, as she cleared 11'11¾" to finish second in the overall field and joined classmates Frankie Porambo (third, 11'5¾") and Heidi Liles (fifth, 10'11¾") within the top five.

Freshman Sophia Chiaramonte picked up a pair of top-five marks on Friday night, as she placed fourth in both the 60-meter dash (8.15) and long jump (16'10½"). She was one of two top-four finishers for Air Force in the sprint, as junior Aubrey Ridgeway finished third with a time of 8.02. Freshman Aaliyah Ricketts joined Chiaramonte in the top-five of the long jump, registering a distance of 16'4¼" to finish fifth.

Senior Swathi Samuel and sophomore Sarah Deresky finished second (5:16.01) and third (5:16.56), respectively, in the 20-runner field of the mile, while first-year Falcon Stephanie Gregerson picked up a fourth-place time of 2:22.77 in the 800-meter run. Sophomore Kendra Middleton finished second in the high jump with a clearance of 5'3", while freshman Ira Frazier rounded out the women's list of top-five finishers with a third-place distance of 35'8" in the triple jump.

On the men's side, Air Force earned first-place finishes from sophomores LaShawn Taylor and Will Kitzhaber. Taylor posted a career-best distance of 48'1¾" to lead Air Force to a sweep of the top-two spots in the triple jump (senior Anthony Davis, 44'2½"), while Kitzhaber posted a winning time of 15:18.88 to lead the Falcons to a 1-2-3-4-5 finish in the 5000-meter run. Freshmen Nico Fraser (15:24.58) and Ryan Johnson (15:27.68) finished second and third, respectively, in the 16-runner event, while senior Marshall Wheeler placed fourth (15:28.25) and junior Drew Lester took fifth with a time of 15:36.00.

Junior Aric Kedge was the top collegiate finisher in the 800-meter run, as he clocked a time of 1:54.14 to finish second overall and lead Air Force to three of the top-four times in the 17-runner event. Classmate Colin Dwyer finished third in that event with a time of 1:55.66, while sophomore Garrett Blenkush placed fourth in 1:56.25. Freshman Aiden Boyle was the top collegiate in the mile, using a time of 4:26.12 to finish third overall in the full 38-runner event, while junior Mitch Lipe cleared 17'2¾" to earn the top collegiate finish in the pole vault. Lipe was one of two Air Force juniors to finish within the top-five of the overall field (16 total jumpers), as classmate Greg Skage matched that clearance during a fifth-place finish.

Freshman Luke Arkell earned runner-up honors in the 20-sprinter 200-meter dash (22.27), while sophomore La'akea Aiu finished fifth with a time of 22.86. The Falcons also placed a pair within the top-five of the 60-meter dash, as sophomore Wyatt Murphy finished fourth in a time of 6.97 and freshman Devin Broxton took fifth in 7.00. Freshman Cameron Harris clocked a time of 8.26 to finish third in the 60-meter hurdles, while Broxton added a fourth-place distance of 21'5¼" in the long jump and fellow freshman Jaret Prete claimed the same placement in the weight throw after recording a toss of 55'4¼".

The championship portion of the indoor season begins next week, as the Falcons return to Albuquerque, N.M., for the 2020 Mountain West Indoor Track and Field Championships. The three-day event, which begins on Thursday, Feb. 27, will be held at the ABQ Convention Center in downtown Albuquerque.

Footer

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the u.s air force of non-u.s. government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although the u.s. air force may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for department of defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

La‘akea Aiu

Luke Arkell

Garrett Blenkush

Devin Broxton

Meghan Carbiener

Sophia Chiaramonte

Anthony Davis

Sarah Deresky

Colin Dwyer

Ira Frazier

Cameron Harris

Ryan Johnson

Aric Kedge

Will Kitzhaber

Drew Lester

Heidi Liles

Mitch Lipe

Kendra Middleton

Wyatt Murphy

Brid O'Connell

Frankie Porambo

Jaret Prete

Grace Proesch

Aaliyah Ricketts

Aubrey Ridgeway

Swathi Samuel

Greg Skage

Addyson Smith

Marshall Wheeler

Adrianna Wilder

Erika Willis

Footer