Friday, May 14
Clovis, Calif.
11:00 am MT
Air Force Academy
at
MW Championships
Mahala Norris Captures MW Steeplechase Title
5/14/2021 11:55:00 PM | Track and Field
Norris shattered her own Academy Record - and the MW Championship Meet mark - in the win.
CLOVIS, Calif. – Air Force senior Mahala Norris added another conference championship to her incredible 2021 season this evening (May 14), as she shattered her own Academy Record – and set a new Championship Meet Record – to win the 3000-meter steeplechase during the second day of action at the Mountain West Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Clovis.
Norris, who won the MW Cross Country title in early March, captured the steeplechase championship in impressive fashion in the final event on Friday night, as she clocked a career-best time of 9:44.10 to win the meet by nearly three seconds. Competing in just her second steeplechase, the senior deleted nearly 20 seconds from the Academy Record that she set two weeks ago on the same track at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The first Falcon to ever break the 10-minute mark in the steeplechase, Norris also took more than three seconds off the Mountain West Championship Meet Record.
The men captured two of the three podium finishes in the decathlon, as freshman Braeden Holcombe and junior Wyatt Murphy both surpassed the 7000-point mark to finish second and third, respectively
Holcombe became the first Air Force freshman to surpass 7000 points in a decathlon, as he amassed 7017 points to debut in seventh on the program's all-time standings and claim runner-up honors at the conference meet. Highlighted by a decathlon-leading and personal-best time of 4:39.04 in the 1500-meter run, Holcombe scored within the top-two of all five events on Friday. He accounted for two more career-best marks, with a 10-foot PR in the discus throw (128'7") and a nine-foot PR in the javelin (166'3"), and rounded out his scoresheet with a 15.14 in the 110-meter hurdles and a 14'5¼" in the pole vault.
Murphy's career-best tally of 7026 points – a personal improvement of more than 200 points – is the ninth-best tally in Academy history. The junior, who opened yesterday with an event win, repeated that action on Friday by posting a meet-leading time of 15.08 in the day's first event – the 110-meter hurdles. He posted career-best marks in the javelin throw (130'6" – a 12-foot improvement) and 1500-meter run (4:45.00 – a 17-second improvement), while registering a throw of 118'7" in the discus and a clearance of 12'9½" in the pole vault.
In all, Air Force accounted for three of the top-five finishes in the decathlon, as senior Tyler Gurchiek tallied a career-best 6488 points to finish fifth. Gurchiek's highest scoring finishes of the day came in the pole vault (14'5¼") and 1500-meter run (4:40.17), while he also clocked a 15.87 in the 110-meter hurdles and posted distances of 111'1" in the discus and 117'4" in the javelin.
Sophomore Jaret Prete claimed his first conference medal, as he registered a throw of 187'1" to finish third in the hammer. Classmate Aidan Boyle also earned his first MW medal – and the same placement – in the 3000-meter steeplechase, as he posted a time of 8:57.39. Boyle was one of two Falcons to place within the top five of the steeplechase, as senior Hunter Boyer used a late push to finish fifth in 9:03.00.
The men also earned a pair of scoring finishes in the high jump, as senior Addison Brown and junior Jake Hall accounted for matching clearances of 6'7" to finish fourth and sixth, respectively. Freshman John Colizzi scored for Air Force in the long jump, after recording a career-best distance of 23'0½" on his final attempt to finish fifth in the overall standings, while sophomore Hayden Bullock earned a sixth-place finish in the shot put following a throw of 50'9½".
On the women's side, junior Erika Willis equaled the fifth-best clearance in Academy history (12'11½") to finish sixth and lead Air Force to a pair of scoring finishes, as classmate Frankie Porambo placed eighth with a height of 12'0¾". Senior Addyson Smith added a seventh-place finish in the shot put, as she posted the fifth-best distance in Academy history (47'7¾") on her second throw of the night.
In addition to today's finals, several qualifying races were contested on the track at Veterans Memorial Stadium, with the men advancing eight into tomorrow's finals.
Just over an hour after completing the decathlon, Holcombe and Murphy returned to the track for the opening round of the 110-meter hurdles. The pair, who posted qualifying times of 15.17 and 15.36, respectively, advanced to tomorrow's finals with freshman Philip Hundl, who clocked a time of 14.84 to lead the trio to three of the nine spots in the final.
Air Force also advanced multiple runners in the 200-meter (junior Sean Geither – 21.53, sophomore Zac Larrier – 21.54) and 400-meter (senior Luke Zuluaga – 48.14, senior Zachary Dicken – 48.29) events, while junior Garrett Blenkush clocked a time of 1:52.35 to advance in the 800-meter run.
The women made two additional improvements to the Academy's all-time standings on Friday night – sophomore Stephanie Gregersen registered the ninth-fastest 800-meter time in program history during today's qualifying session, as she crossed the finish line in 2:11.69, and freshman Rayna Fruchey improved her steeplechase time of 10:58.00 and moved into eighth on the all-time list.
Championship Saturday begins tomorrow (May 15) at 3:00 p.m. (PT), inside Veterans Memorial Stadium. The men enter the final day in second with 52.50 points, while the women are in seventh with 20 points.
Norris, who won the MW Cross Country title in early March, captured the steeplechase championship in impressive fashion in the final event on Friday night, as she clocked a career-best time of 9:44.10 to win the meet by nearly three seconds. Competing in just her second steeplechase, the senior deleted nearly 20 seconds from the Academy Record that she set two weeks ago on the same track at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The first Falcon to ever break the 10-minute mark in the steeplechase, Norris also took more than three seconds off the Mountain West Championship Meet Record.
The men captured two of the three podium finishes in the decathlon, as freshman Braeden Holcombe and junior Wyatt Murphy both surpassed the 7000-point mark to finish second and third, respectively
Holcombe became the first Air Force freshman to surpass 7000 points in a decathlon, as he amassed 7017 points to debut in seventh on the program's all-time standings and claim runner-up honors at the conference meet. Highlighted by a decathlon-leading and personal-best time of 4:39.04 in the 1500-meter run, Holcombe scored within the top-two of all five events on Friday. He accounted for two more career-best marks, with a 10-foot PR in the discus throw (128'7") and a nine-foot PR in the javelin (166'3"), and rounded out his scoresheet with a 15.14 in the 110-meter hurdles and a 14'5¼" in the pole vault.
Murphy's career-best tally of 7026 points – a personal improvement of more than 200 points – is the ninth-best tally in Academy history. The junior, who opened yesterday with an event win, repeated that action on Friday by posting a meet-leading time of 15.08 in the day's first event – the 110-meter hurdles. He posted career-best marks in the javelin throw (130'6" – a 12-foot improvement) and 1500-meter run (4:45.00 – a 17-second improvement), while registering a throw of 118'7" in the discus and a clearance of 12'9½" in the pole vault.
In all, Air Force accounted for three of the top-five finishes in the decathlon, as senior Tyler Gurchiek tallied a career-best 6488 points to finish fifth. Gurchiek's highest scoring finishes of the day came in the pole vault (14'5¼") and 1500-meter run (4:40.17), while he also clocked a 15.87 in the 110-meter hurdles and posted distances of 111'1" in the discus and 117'4" in the javelin.
Sophomore Jaret Prete claimed his first conference medal, as he registered a throw of 187'1" to finish third in the hammer. Classmate Aidan Boyle also earned his first MW medal – and the same placement – in the 3000-meter steeplechase, as he posted a time of 8:57.39. Boyle was one of two Falcons to place within the top five of the steeplechase, as senior Hunter Boyer used a late push to finish fifth in 9:03.00.
The men also earned a pair of scoring finishes in the high jump, as senior Addison Brown and junior Jake Hall accounted for matching clearances of 6'7" to finish fourth and sixth, respectively. Freshman John Colizzi scored for Air Force in the long jump, after recording a career-best distance of 23'0½" on his final attempt to finish fifth in the overall standings, while sophomore Hayden Bullock earned a sixth-place finish in the shot put following a throw of 50'9½".
On the women's side, junior Erika Willis equaled the fifth-best clearance in Academy history (12'11½") to finish sixth and lead Air Force to a pair of scoring finishes, as classmate Frankie Porambo placed eighth with a height of 12'0¾". Senior Addyson Smith added a seventh-place finish in the shot put, as she posted the fifth-best distance in Academy history (47'7¾") on her second throw of the night.
In addition to today's finals, several qualifying races were contested on the track at Veterans Memorial Stadium, with the men advancing eight into tomorrow's finals.
Just over an hour after completing the decathlon, Holcombe and Murphy returned to the track for the opening round of the 110-meter hurdles. The pair, who posted qualifying times of 15.17 and 15.36, respectively, advanced to tomorrow's finals with freshman Philip Hundl, who clocked a time of 14.84 to lead the trio to three of the nine spots in the final.
Air Force also advanced multiple runners in the 200-meter (junior Sean Geither – 21.53, sophomore Zac Larrier – 21.54) and 400-meter (senior Luke Zuluaga – 48.14, senior Zachary Dicken – 48.29) events, while junior Garrett Blenkush clocked a time of 1:52.35 to advance in the 800-meter run.
The women made two additional improvements to the Academy's all-time standings on Friday night – sophomore Stephanie Gregersen registered the ninth-fastest 800-meter time in program history during today's qualifying session, as she crossed the finish line in 2:11.69, and freshman Rayna Fruchey improved her steeplechase time of 10:58.00 and moved into eighth on the all-time list.
Championship Saturday begins tomorrow (May 15) at 3:00 p.m. (PT), inside Veterans Memorial Stadium. The men enter the final day in second with 52.50 points, while the women are in seventh with 20 points.
Players Mentioned
800m
/ Track and Field
3000m Steeplechase
/ Track and Field
800m / 1500m
/ Track and Field
High Jump
/ Track and Field
Discus / Shot Put
/ Track and Field
Long Jump / Triple Jump
/ Track and Field
400m
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
400m
/ Track and Field
800m
/ Track and Field
Decathlon
/ Track and Field
High Jump
/ Track and Field
Long Jump / Decathlon
/ Track and Field
100m Hurdles / Decathlon
/ Track and Field
200m, 400m
/ Track and Field
Decathlon
/ Track and Field
800m / 1500m
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Hammer / Discus / Shot Put
/ Track and Field
Discus / Shot Put / Hammer
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
400m / 200m
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