Katie Thompson Leads Falcons to Strong Start at Championships at the Peak

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – Recording the fifth-highest pentathlon total in Academy history, Air Force freshman Katie Thompson had a strong showing this afternoon (Feb. 25), as the track and field team kicked off its Championships at the Peak meet inside the Cadet Field House. Highlighted by her pentathlon PR, Thompson and two members of the men's heptathlon lineup combined for 10 career-high marks.

Thompson, competing in just her second collegiate pentathlon, tallied 3336 points to finish ninth in the meet and debut in fifth on the program's all-time standings. Adding nearly 500 points to her previous tally, the freshman became the first Falcon since 2016 to impact the program's top-10 in that event. Thompson registered career-best marks in the high jump (4'10¼") and 800-meter run (2:42.59), while recording the second-fastest hurdles time of her career (8.85), a distance of 30'6¼" in the shot put and a mark of 18'9¾" in the long jump – an event she set the Academy Record in earlier this season.

Junior Wyatt Murphy had a strong opening day in his first heptathlon of the year, as he set or matched career-best marks in every event and amassed 3102 points to stand in second – just 76 points behind the meet leader – after the initial day of competition. Murphy, who remained among the top-three of the 13-athlete event throughout the day, equaled his personal-best clearance of 6'6¾" in the high jump and accounted for career-best marks in the 60-meter dash (6.81), long jump (23'0¾") and shot put (35'0½").

Like Murphy, senior Tyler Gurchiek had a strong first day in the heptathlon, accounting for career-best marks in three events and finishing Thursday's action with 2575 points (11th). Gurchiek, who posted career-best marks in the 60-meter dash (7.20) and long jump (20'2½"), matched his personal-best distance of 33'5¼" in the shot put and posted a clearance of 5'11½" in the high jump.

Murphy and Gurchiek return to the Cadet Field House at 9:00 a.m., tomorrow (Feb. 26) for the final three events of the heptathlon. Individual events are also slated to begin on the field at that time, while the running events begin two hours later.

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