Friday, February 19
USAFA
9:00 am MT
Air Force Academy
vs
Air Force Collegiate Open
Photo by: Trevor Cokley
Falcons Have Strong Showing at Air Force Open
2/19/2021 7:37:00 PM | Track and Field
Clearing 17-9.75, Greg Skage registered the No. 7 pole vault in the NCAA this season.
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – Four improvements to the Academy's all-time standings and nine first-place finishes highlighted a strong day of track and field competition for Air Force, as it hosted its annual Collegiate Open this afternoon (Feb. 19) at the Cadet Field House.
Senior Greg Skage recorded a career-best clearance of 17'9¾" to earn the top collegiate finish in the pole vault and move into eighth on the Academy's all-time list. Tallying the seventh-best clearance in the NCAA this season, the senior finished second overall in the 14-vaulter field.
The women saw three updates to its side of the record book this afternoon. Junior Grace Proesch clocked a career-best time of 25.25 to move into fifth on the all-time standings of the 200-meter dash, while classmate Michelle Roca easily won the 400-meter dash after matching the eighth-fastest time in program history at 57.14. Shortly after accounting for a runner-up finish in the long jump (18'11¾") and a preliminary hurdles time of 8.88, freshman Katie Thompson improved her career-best time to 8.79 and moved into a tie for fourth on the Academy's all-time standings.
Juniors Jake Hall (6'6¾") and Wyatt Murphy (6'4¾") teamed up for a one-two finish in the high jump, while classmate Garrett Blenkush (1:53.76, adjusted for altitude) and senior Aric Kedge (1:53.93a) used career-best times to earn the same top-two placements in the 800-meter run. Junior Matt Zacharias also accounted for an event title on the track today, as he clocked a career-best time of 4:15.36a to win the mile in his first race of the season at that distance and lead Air Force to two of the top-three finishes (sophomore Aidan Boyle, third in 4:17.20a).
Sophomore Cameron Harris clocked a time of 8.10 to win the 60-meter hurdles by 0.17 seconds, while the mile relay of junior La'akea Aiu, junior Sean Geither, junior Charles Dimnwaobi and senior Luke Zuluaga combined for a winning time of 3:21.03. Junior LaShawn Taylor also picked up a first-place finish, as he recorded a distance of 49'3½" on his final attempt to win the triple jump by more than two inches.
Freshman Rebecca Wusinich and junior Joseph Wittig won their respective races of the Falcon-heavy 3000-meter events. Wusinich clocked an altitude-adjusted time of 10:34.68 in her first attempt at that distance to finish ahead of her teammates in the women's race, while Wittig clocked a career-best mark of 8:21.86a to take first in the men's race.
Skage paced the Falcons to the top four collegiate finishes in the pole vault – and four of the top six overall in the 14-vaulter event. Senior Mitch Lipe, finished second amongst the collegiate field – and fourth overall- with a clearance of 16'11½", while freshman Caiden Macktinger finished fifth with a career-best height of 16'6¾" and junior Ethan Gardner took sixth with a season-best matching mark of 16'0¾". The success of the pole vault was not limited to the men's runway on Friday, as junior Frankie Porambo cleared the 12-foot bar for the second-straight week to finish third with a 12'1½" clearance.
"I'm very pleased with our pole vaulters," associate head coach Scott Steffan said. "Greg posted a PR that will probably get him to NCAAs – and that goes to show their hard work and dedication. I'm very blessed with the group of pole vaulters I have – I thought all of them did a great job today. Obviously, I'd like to see Mitch get that 5.43 mark, but I have all the confidence in the world that he'll get it next weekend. It was a great PR by Caiden and Ryan Brown's been injured, so it was awesome to see him back ... all-in-all, it was a great day. I was really pleased with how they performed and hopefully, we'll jump higher next week – we've got a huge meet coming up, so we've just got to keep doing what we're doing and, hopefully, jump higher."
In addition to leading off the winning relay team, Aiu also accounted for a top-five finish in the 400-meter dash after posting a career-best time of 49.68 to place fifth. Wusinich added a runner-up finish in the mile (career-best 5:12.07a), while Proesch and Roca joined freshman Zoe Iwu and junior Brid O'Connell in a mile relay that earned the same placement after combing for a time of 3:56.28. Thompson
The men earned a pair of top-five finishes from the throwing circle, as sophomore Jaret Prete placed third in the weight throw (career-best 59'2¾") and classmate Hayden Bullock took fifth in the shot put (51'11"). Freshman Braeden Holcombe registered a distance of 21'10" to add a fifth-place finish in the long jump
The Falcons remain at the Academy next week, when they host some of the nation's top teams at the prestigious Championships at the Peak meet, which will be held at the Cadet Field House on Feb. 25-27.
Senior Greg Skage recorded a career-best clearance of 17'9¾" to earn the top collegiate finish in the pole vault and move into eighth on the Academy's all-time list. Tallying the seventh-best clearance in the NCAA this season, the senior finished second overall in the 14-vaulter field.
The women saw three updates to its side of the record book this afternoon. Junior Grace Proesch clocked a career-best time of 25.25 to move into fifth on the all-time standings of the 200-meter dash, while classmate Michelle Roca easily won the 400-meter dash after matching the eighth-fastest time in program history at 57.14. Shortly after accounting for a runner-up finish in the long jump (18'11¾") and a preliminary hurdles time of 8.88, freshman Katie Thompson improved her career-best time to 8.79 and moved into a tie for fourth on the Academy's all-time standings.
Juniors Jake Hall (6'6¾") and Wyatt Murphy (6'4¾") teamed up for a one-two finish in the high jump, while classmate Garrett Blenkush (1:53.76, adjusted for altitude) and senior Aric Kedge (1:53.93a) used career-best times to earn the same top-two placements in the 800-meter run. Junior Matt Zacharias also accounted for an event title on the track today, as he clocked a career-best time of 4:15.36a to win the mile in his first race of the season at that distance and lead Air Force to two of the top-three finishes (sophomore Aidan Boyle, third in 4:17.20a).
Sophomore Cameron Harris clocked a time of 8.10 to win the 60-meter hurdles by 0.17 seconds, while the mile relay of junior La'akea Aiu, junior Sean Geither, junior Charles Dimnwaobi and senior Luke Zuluaga combined for a winning time of 3:21.03. Junior LaShawn Taylor also picked up a first-place finish, as he recorded a distance of 49'3½" on his final attempt to win the triple jump by more than two inches.
Freshman Rebecca Wusinich and junior Joseph Wittig won their respective races of the Falcon-heavy 3000-meter events. Wusinich clocked an altitude-adjusted time of 10:34.68 in her first attempt at that distance to finish ahead of her teammates in the women's race, while Wittig clocked a career-best mark of 8:21.86a to take first in the men's race.
Skage paced the Falcons to the top four collegiate finishes in the pole vault – and four of the top six overall in the 14-vaulter event. Senior Mitch Lipe, finished second amongst the collegiate field – and fourth overall- with a clearance of 16'11½", while freshman Caiden Macktinger finished fifth with a career-best height of 16'6¾" and junior Ethan Gardner took sixth with a season-best matching mark of 16'0¾". The success of the pole vault was not limited to the men's runway on Friday, as junior Frankie Porambo cleared the 12-foot bar for the second-straight week to finish third with a 12'1½" clearance.
"I'm very pleased with our pole vaulters," associate head coach Scott Steffan said. "Greg posted a PR that will probably get him to NCAAs – and that goes to show their hard work and dedication. I'm very blessed with the group of pole vaulters I have – I thought all of them did a great job today. Obviously, I'd like to see Mitch get that 5.43 mark, but I have all the confidence in the world that he'll get it next weekend. It was a great PR by Caiden and Ryan Brown's been injured, so it was awesome to see him back ... all-in-all, it was a great day. I was really pleased with how they performed and hopefully, we'll jump higher next week – we've got a huge meet coming up, so we've just got to keep doing what we're doing and, hopefully, jump higher."
In addition to leading off the winning relay team, Aiu also accounted for a top-five finish in the 400-meter dash after posting a career-best time of 49.68 to place fifth. Wusinich added a runner-up finish in the mile (career-best 5:12.07a), while Proesch and Roca joined freshman Zoe Iwu and junior Brid O'Connell in a mile relay that earned the same placement after combing for a time of 3:56.28. Thompson
The men earned a pair of top-five finishes from the throwing circle, as sophomore Jaret Prete placed third in the weight throw (career-best 59'2¾") and classmate Hayden Bullock took fifth in the shot put (51'11"). Freshman Braeden Holcombe registered a distance of 21'10" to add a fifth-place finish in the long jump
The Falcons remain at the Academy next week, when they host some of the nation's top teams at the prestigious Championships at the Peak meet, which will be held at the Cadet Field House on Feb. 25-27.
Players Mentioned
110m Hurdles / 400m Hurdles
/ Track and Field
800m
/ Track and Field
800m / 1500m
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Discus / Shot Put
/ Track and Field
100m / 200m
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
400m
/ Track and Field
High Jump
/ Track and Field
110m Hurdles / 400m Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Long Jump / Decathlon
/ Track and Field
400m / 200m
/ Track and Field
800m
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault / High Jump
/ Track and Field
Decathlon
/ Track and Field
400m
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Hammer / Discus / Shot Put
/ Track and Field
100m / 200m
/ Track and Field
400m Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Long Jump / 100m Hurdles
/ Track and Field
1500m / 5000m
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
3000m Steeplechase / 5000m
/ Track and Field
400m / 200m
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