Men Second, Women Fourth at UCCS Open

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Highlighted by a pair of improvements to the Academy's all-time standings and three first-place finishes, the Air Force track and field team wrapped up competition at the Colorado .Running Company UCCS Open this afternoon (Feb. 13) in Colorado Springs.

Braeden Holcombe completed the heptathlon with three more career-best marks – bringing his two-day total to seven personal-best marks in as many events. After posting top-three marks in the 60-meter hurdles (8.60), pole vault (13'11¼") and 1000-meter run (2:51.43) on Saturday, Holcombe finished with 5168 points – the eighth-highest total in Academy history. That total also added more than 240 points to the Freshman Class Record that had stood since 2018.

After winning the weight throw last night, senior Addyson Smith completed her sweep of the throwing titles today with a victory in the shot put. With a career-best toss of 44'4", Smith not only won the event by nearly two feet, but also moved into ninth on the Academy's all-time standings.

Sophomore Hayden Bullock helped Air Force sweep the event titles in the shot put, as he registered a distance of 50'10¼" to claim first-place honors and lead Air Force to three of the top-five marks. Sophomore Jaret Prete and freshman Teagun Glenn finished fourth (47'5¾") and fifth (47'5¼"), respectively, in that event, while freshman Gerrit Tamminga added a throw of 45'0¼" to finish within the top half of the field (seventh).

Junior Ari Martinez and senior Kathleen Medill finished third (5'7¾") and fifth (5'5¾"), respectively, in the women's high jump, while junior Wyatt Murphy earned a fifth-place clearance of 6'5½" in the men's event.

On the track, freshman Caitlin McConnell posted a time of 10:42.65 to win the 3000-meter run by more than 10 seconds, while classmate Rayna Fruchey earned a fourth-place time of 5:26.42 in the mile. The men accounted for multiple top-five finishes in the 800-meter run (junior Garrett Blenkush – third at 1:57.29, senior Aric Kedge – fourth at 1:57.30), while senior Tyler Gurchiek finished fourth in the 60-meter hurdles (5.69) and junior Frank Rossi placed fifth in the 400-meter dash (51.71).

Air Force returns home next Friday (Feb. 19) to begin a two-week homestand at the Cadet Field House. The Falcons will welcome nine schools to the Cadet Field House for the annual Air Force Collegiate Open, before an even larger contingent of nationally-ranked teams descend on the Academy for the Championships at the Peak meet on Feb. 25-27.

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

Garrett Blenkush

Hayden Bullock

Rayna Fruchey

Teagun Glenn

Tyler Gurchiek

Braeden Holcombe

Aric Kedge

Ari Martinez

Caitlin McConnell

Kathleen Medill

Wyatt Murphy

Jaret Prete

Frank Rossi

Addyson Smith

Gerrit Tamminga

Footer