Saturday, May 15
Clovis, Calif.
1:00 pm MT
Air Force Academy
at
MW Championships
Photo by: Sierra Lyon
Falcons Claim Five MW Titles on Saturday
5/15/2021 11:59:00 PM | Track and Field
Greg Skage defended his pole vault title and led Air Force to its fifth podium sweep in eight years.
CLOVIS, Calif. – Highlighted by five Mountain West titles, two Championship Meet Records and a podium sweep in the pole vault, the Air Force track and field team closed out the 2021 Mountain West Outdoor Track and Field Championships tonight (May 16) at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis.
Senior Mahala Norris continued her steller senior campaign on Saturday, as she captured her second conference title – and second Championship Meet Record – in as many nights with a thrilling victory in the 5000-meter run. Norris, who won the steeplechase last night, crossed today's finish line in a winning time of 15:39.13 – the second-fastest mark in Academy history – to break the three-year-old Championship Meet Record by five seconds. Norris ran a blazing 1:04.81 on the final lap to better the 33-runner field by more than five seconds to win the race and move into the Top 20 nationally.
Sophomore Sam Gilman also registered a Championship Meet Record on Saturday, as he posted a tie of 3:40.44 to crush former Falcon Zach Perkins' 2013 by nearly four seconds. Gilman, who timed a 55.21 for the final split, took the lead on the backstretch of the final lap, finished just shy of his program-record PR and bettered the field by one second. The sophomore, who became just the second Academy runner to earn a conference title at that distance (Perkins, 2013), paced the Falcons to a pair of top-four finishes, as freshman Cole Lindhorst posted a time of 3:43.12 – a mark that also bettered the previous meet record – to finish fourth. Gilman returned to the track for the 5000-meter run and led Air Force's contingent with a fifth-place time of 14:10.66. Senior Konrad Steck also scored for the Falcons in that event, as he posted a time of 14:11.54 to finish sixth.
Air Force dominated the pole vault standings, as they swept the podium positions and added another pair of scoring finishes to claim 28 of the event's possible 39 points. Senior Greg Skage successfully defended his MW Outdoor title in the pole vault, as he edged teammate – and classmate – Mitch Lipe in a four-round jump off after tying with first-attempt clearances at 16'7¼". Junior Ethan Gardner, who also cleared that bar and finished third based on attempts, helped the Falcons to a sweep of the podium spots – marking the fifth time in eight years that Air Force has gone 1-2-3 in the outdoor pole vault. Classmate Ryan Brown finished sixth with a clearance of 15'11¼" and senior Tyler Gurchiek matched his season-best of 14'11½" to place eighth, as the Falcons nabbed five of the eight scoring positions.
Sophomore Zac Larrier, competing in just his fourth meet with the Falcons, picked up two conference titles on Saturday, as he won the 200-meter dash and ran on the 4x400-meter relay that claimed first-place honors. Larrier posted a time of 21.16 to become just the third Falcon to claim an outdoor title in the 200-meter distance and returned to the track an hour later to join junior Sean Geither, senior Zachary Dicken and classmate Luke Zuluaga on the winning 4x400-meter relay. The quartet combined for a time of 3:11.68 to better the field by nearly two seconds and claim the program's third-straight conference title in that event.
Geither also helped Air Force claim a fourth-place finish in the 200-meter dash (21.40), while Zuluaga and Dicken added points in the 400-meter dash by finishing fourth (48.14) and sixth (48.75), respectively. The foursome also teamed up to account for the eighth-fastest 4x100-meter relay in Academy history (40.64) and a runner-up finish in the first running event of Championship Saturday.
Junior Nick Oesterling and sophomore Hayden Bullock claimed bronze medals in the javelin (197'6") and discus (178'6"), respectively, while junior Jarod Pankau added scoring finishesin both events with a seventh-place – and career-best – throw of 181'11" in the javelin and an eighth-place toss of 156'11" in the discus. The men also earned a pair of top-eight finishes in the 110-meter hurdles, as freshmen Philip Hundl and Braeden Holcombe finished seventh (15.02) and eighth (15.31), respectively.
Junior La'akea Aiu medaled in the 400-meter hurdles after finishing third with a career-best time of 52.92, while classmate Garrett Blenkush earned a fourth-place time of 1:52.23 in the 800-meter run. Freshman John Colizzi added a scoring finish in the triple jump, as he registered a distance of 47'2¼" to take fourth.
The women also earned a pair of scoring placements in the high jump, as senior Kathleen Medill and junior Ari Martinez finished sixth and seventh, respectively, after posting matching marks of 5'7".
The men combined for 177.50 points to finish second, while women tallied 34.50 points to place ninth.
The Falcons return to action on May 26-29, when select athletes travel to College Station, Texas, for the preliminary round of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. A complete list of qualifiers will be announced next week.
Senior Mahala Norris continued her steller senior campaign on Saturday, as she captured her second conference title – and second Championship Meet Record – in as many nights with a thrilling victory in the 5000-meter run. Norris, who won the steeplechase last night, crossed today's finish line in a winning time of 15:39.13 – the second-fastest mark in Academy history – to break the three-year-old Championship Meet Record by five seconds. Norris ran a blazing 1:04.81 on the final lap to better the 33-runner field by more than five seconds to win the race and move into the Top 20 nationally.
Sophomore Sam Gilman also registered a Championship Meet Record on Saturday, as he posted a tie of 3:40.44 to crush former Falcon Zach Perkins' 2013 by nearly four seconds. Gilman, who timed a 55.21 for the final split, took the lead on the backstretch of the final lap, finished just shy of his program-record PR and bettered the field by one second. The sophomore, who became just the second Academy runner to earn a conference title at that distance (Perkins, 2013), paced the Falcons to a pair of top-four finishes, as freshman Cole Lindhorst posted a time of 3:43.12 – a mark that also bettered the previous meet record – to finish fourth. Gilman returned to the track for the 5000-meter run and led Air Force's contingent with a fifth-place time of 14:10.66. Senior Konrad Steck also scored for the Falcons in that event, as he posted a time of 14:11.54 to finish sixth.
Air Force dominated the pole vault standings, as they swept the podium positions and added another pair of scoring finishes to claim 28 of the event's possible 39 points. Senior Greg Skage successfully defended his MW Outdoor title in the pole vault, as he edged teammate – and classmate – Mitch Lipe in a four-round jump off after tying with first-attempt clearances at 16'7¼". Junior Ethan Gardner, who also cleared that bar and finished third based on attempts, helped the Falcons to a sweep of the podium spots – marking the fifth time in eight years that Air Force has gone 1-2-3 in the outdoor pole vault. Classmate Ryan Brown finished sixth with a clearance of 15'11¼" and senior Tyler Gurchiek matched his season-best of 14'11½" to place eighth, as the Falcons nabbed five of the eight scoring positions.
Sophomore Zac Larrier, competing in just his fourth meet with the Falcons, picked up two conference titles on Saturday, as he won the 200-meter dash and ran on the 4x400-meter relay that claimed first-place honors. Larrier posted a time of 21.16 to become just the third Falcon to claim an outdoor title in the 200-meter distance and returned to the track an hour later to join junior Sean Geither, senior Zachary Dicken and classmate Luke Zuluaga on the winning 4x400-meter relay. The quartet combined for a time of 3:11.68 to better the field by nearly two seconds and claim the program's third-straight conference title in that event.
Geither also helped Air Force claim a fourth-place finish in the 200-meter dash (21.40), while Zuluaga and Dicken added points in the 400-meter dash by finishing fourth (48.14) and sixth (48.75), respectively. The foursome also teamed up to account for the eighth-fastest 4x100-meter relay in Academy history (40.64) and a runner-up finish in the first running event of Championship Saturday.
Junior Nick Oesterling and sophomore Hayden Bullock claimed bronze medals in the javelin (197'6") and discus (178'6"), respectively, while junior Jarod Pankau added scoring finishesin both events with a seventh-place – and career-best – throw of 181'11" in the javelin and an eighth-place toss of 156'11" in the discus. The men also earned a pair of top-eight finishes in the 110-meter hurdles, as freshmen Philip Hundl and Braeden Holcombe finished seventh (15.02) and eighth (15.31), respectively.
Junior La'akea Aiu medaled in the 400-meter hurdles after finishing third with a career-best time of 52.92, while classmate Garrett Blenkush earned a fourth-place time of 1:52.23 in the 800-meter run. Freshman John Colizzi added a scoring finish in the triple jump, as he registered a distance of 47'2¼" to take fourth.
The women also earned a pair of scoring placements in the high jump, as senior Kathleen Medill and junior Ari Martinez finished sixth and seventh, respectively, after posting matching marks of 5'7".
The men combined for 177.50 points to finish second, while women tallied 34.50 points to place ninth.
The Falcons return to action on May 26-29, when select athletes travel to College Station, Texas, for the preliminary round of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. A complete list of qualifiers will be announced next week.
Players Mentioned
110m Hurdles / 400m Hurdles
/ Track and Field
800m
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Discus / Shot Put
/ Track and Field
Long Jump / Triple Jump
/ Track and Field
400m
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
400m
/ Track and Field
800m / 1500m / 5000m
/ Track and Field
Decathlon
/ Track and Field
Long Jump / Decathlon
/ Track and Field
100m Hurdles / Decathlon
/ Track and Field
200m, 400m
/ Track and Field
1500m
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
High Jump
/ Track and Field
High Jump
/ Track and Field
800m / 1500m
/ Track and Field
Javelin
/ Track and Field
Discus / Javelin
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
1500m
/ Track and Field
400m / 200m
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