Wednesday, May 26
College Station, Texas
12:30 pm MT
Air Force Academy
at
NCAA West Preliminary
Falcons Set to Open NCAA Action at West Prelim
5/25/2021 8:28:00 AM | Track and Field
Eleven Falcons will compete in the opening round of the NCAA Championships on May 26-29.
Eleven members of the Air Force track and field team will travel to College Station, Texas, this week for the West Preliminary of the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The four-day event, which will be held at E.B. Cushing Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M University, will run from Wednesday, May 26, through Saturday, May 29.
MEET INFORMATION
The West Preliminary serves as the opening round of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The men will compete on Wednesday and Friday, while the women will compete on Thursday and Saturday (a complete schedule of events for the Falcons can be found on Page 2 of this release). There will be limited capacity at E.B. Cushing Stadium, with single day tickets at $20 for adults and $15 for youth, seniors and college students. Live results will be available for all four days of competition, courtesy of Flash Results and the NCAA, while SEC Network+ will broadcast the meet (direct links to both are available on the Falcons' schedule page at GoAirForceFalcons.com. In-meet updates regarding Air Force can be found on the team's official social media accounts (@af_tfxc).
HOW THIS WORKS
The 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships begin this week at two preliminary sites (West Region in College Station, Texas; East Region in Jacksonville, Fla.). Each region features the top 48 accepted athletes in each event, with the exception of the relays (top 24 teams). The top 12 finishers from each event at the two preliminary sites will advance to the final site of the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on Jan 9-12.
BY THE NUMBERS
The Falcons earned 11 total bids into the NCAA West Preliminary, as eight men and three women were accepted into the opening round of the national meet. Air Force will compete in five running events, two jumping events and a pair of throwing events over the four-day meet. Two other Falcons – senior pole vaulters Mitch Lipe and Greg Skage – posted qualifying marks into the opening round, but will forgo the competition, as it takes place at the same time as Wednesday's graduation at the Academy, while Mahala Norris also registered qualifying marks in the 1500- and 5000-meter events, but will focus on the steeplechase at the national meet.
WHAT & WHO TO WATCH
The men qualified multiple athletes in the 1500-meter run (Sam Gilman, Cole Lindhorst) and pole vault (Ethan Gardner, Ryan Brown), while Air Force will be represented in both the men's and women's 3000-meter steeplechase events (Aidan Boyle, Mahala Norris). The Falcons will also be represented in the women's 10,000-meter run (Maria Mettler), women's 400-meter hurdles (Michelle Roca), men's high jump (Jake Hall), men's discus throw (Hayden Bullock) and men's javelin throw (Nick Oesterling).
FAST FACT
Michelle Roca is just the second member of the women's team to ever qualify to a regional (2003-2009) or preliminary (2010-present) round of the NCAA Outdoor Championships in a sprint or hurdle event.
AIR FORCE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Highlighted by a No. 8 ranking in the 3000-meter steeplechase, Mahala Norris is listed among the nation's Top 20 in two events (20th in the 5000-meter run, 15:39.13). Mitch Lipe and Greg Skage are ranked in the Top 30 of the pole vault standings, as Lipe is listed 23rd with a clearance of 17'8½" and Skage is 29th with a height of 17'6½". Sam Gilman is ranked 40th in the men's 1500-meter run (3:40.39), while Norris also holds a No. 43 ranking in the women's event (4:15.98).
SQUAD GOALS
Two Air Force teams are ranked within the top 10 of this week's USTFCCCA #EventSquad rankings – which are determined by using the cumulative season-best marks from a team's top four athletes on the national descending order list. Braeden Holcombe, Wyatt Murphy, Tyler Gurchiek and Brian Hubbard have combined for 26,292 points – the third-highest total in the country, while the men's pole vault quartet of Mitch Lipe, Greg Skage, Ethan Gardner and Ryan Brown have amassed the nation's eighth-best clearance at 69'0¾".
NORRIS NAMED AIR FORCE'S FEMALE MVP, METTLER EARNS ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE
Mahala Norris received one of the Air Force Athletic Department's top awards on May 24, as she was selected as the Academy's Most Valuable Athlete. She is the 21st track and field athlete to earn one of the athletic department's MVP awards. The women's track and field team accounted for one-third of the athletic department's prestigious Top 6 awards, as Maria Mettler received the Athletic Excellence award. Mettler is the first member of the women's team – ninth overall – to earn that honor.
COMING UP
The 2021 collegiate season concludes in two weeks, as the top 12 finishers from each event at the two preliminary round sites travel to Eugene, Ore., for the final rounds of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The four-day meet, which begins on Wednesday, June 9, will be held at the newly-renovated Hayward Field.
MEET INFORMATION
The West Preliminary serves as the opening round of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The men will compete on Wednesday and Friday, while the women will compete on Thursday and Saturday (a complete schedule of events for the Falcons can be found on Page 2 of this release). There will be limited capacity at E.B. Cushing Stadium, with single day tickets at $20 for adults and $15 for youth, seniors and college students. Live results will be available for all four days of competition, courtesy of Flash Results and the NCAA, while SEC Network+ will broadcast the meet (direct links to both are available on the Falcons' schedule page at GoAirForceFalcons.com. In-meet updates regarding Air Force can be found on the team's official social media accounts (@af_tfxc).
HOW THIS WORKS
The 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships begin this week at two preliminary sites (West Region in College Station, Texas; East Region in Jacksonville, Fla.). Each region features the top 48 accepted athletes in each event, with the exception of the relays (top 24 teams). The top 12 finishers from each event at the two preliminary sites will advance to the final site of the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on Jan 9-12.
BY THE NUMBERS
The Falcons earned 11 total bids into the NCAA West Preliminary, as eight men and three women were accepted into the opening round of the national meet. Air Force will compete in five running events, two jumping events and a pair of throwing events over the four-day meet. Two other Falcons – senior pole vaulters Mitch Lipe and Greg Skage – posted qualifying marks into the opening round, but will forgo the competition, as it takes place at the same time as Wednesday's graduation at the Academy, while Mahala Norris also registered qualifying marks in the 1500- and 5000-meter events, but will focus on the steeplechase at the national meet.
WHAT & WHO TO WATCH
The men qualified multiple athletes in the 1500-meter run (Sam Gilman, Cole Lindhorst) and pole vault (Ethan Gardner, Ryan Brown), while Air Force will be represented in both the men's and women's 3000-meter steeplechase events (Aidan Boyle, Mahala Norris). The Falcons will also be represented in the women's 10,000-meter run (Maria Mettler), women's 400-meter hurdles (Michelle Roca), men's high jump (Jake Hall), men's discus throw (Hayden Bullock) and men's javelin throw (Nick Oesterling).
FAST FACT
Michelle Roca is just the second member of the women's team to ever qualify to a regional (2003-2009) or preliminary (2010-present) round of the NCAA Outdoor Championships in a sprint or hurdle event.
AIR FORCE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Highlighted by a No. 8 ranking in the 3000-meter steeplechase, Mahala Norris is listed among the nation's Top 20 in two events (20th in the 5000-meter run, 15:39.13). Mitch Lipe and Greg Skage are ranked in the Top 30 of the pole vault standings, as Lipe is listed 23rd with a clearance of 17'8½" and Skage is 29th with a height of 17'6½". Sam Gilman is ranked 40th in the men's 1500-meter run (3:40.39), while Norris also holds a No. 43 ranking in the women's event (4:15.98).
SQUAD GOALS
Two Air Force teams are ranked within the top 10 of this week's USTFCCCA #EventSquad rankings – which are determined by using the cumulative season-best marks from a team's top four athletes on the national descending order list. Braeden Holcombe, Wyatt Murphy, Tyler Gurchiek and Brian Hubbard have combined for 26,292 points – the third-highest total in the country, while the men's pole vault quartet of Mitch Lipe, Greg Skage, Ethan Gardner and Ryan Brown have amassed the nation's eighth-best clearance at 69'0¾".
NORRIS NAMED AIR FORCE'S FEMALE MVP, METTLER EARNS ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE
Mahala Norris received one of the Air Force Athletic Department's top awards on May 24, as she was selected as the Academy's Most Valuable Athlete. She is the 21st track and field athlete to earn one of the athletic department's MVP awards. The women's track and field team accounted for one-third of the athletic department's prestigious Top 6 awards, as Maria Mettler received the Athletic Excellence award. Mettler is the first member of the women's team – ninth overall – to earn that honor.
COMING UP
The 2021 collegiate season concludes in two weeks, as the top 12 finishers from each event at the two preliminary round sites travel to Eugene, Ore., for the final rounds of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The four-day meet, which begins on Wednesday, June 9, will be held at the newly-renovated Hayward Field.
Players Mentioned
800m / 1500m
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Discus / Shot Put
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
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800m / 1500m / 5000m
/ Track and Field
Decathlon
/ Track and Field
High Jump
/ Track and Field
Long Jump / Decathlon
/ Track and Field
Decathlon
/ Track and Field
1500m
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
1500m / 5000m
/ Track and Field
Decathlon
/ Track and Field
800m / 1500m
/ Track and Field
Javelin
/ Track and Field
400m Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
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