Female Sprinters Shine at Texas Tech

LUBBOCK, Texas – Members of the Air Force women's sprint squad set the track on fire this afternoon (Jan. 29), as the Falcons wrapped up action at the Texas Tech Open in Lubbock.

AIR FORCE TOP-10 MARKS
Women's 4x400-Meter Relay: Team, 3:49.86 (No. 4 all-time)
Women's 200-Meter Dash: Katie Thompson, 25.28 (No. 6 all-time)
Women's 200-Meter Dash: Taylor Rioux, 25.49 (No. 9 all-time)

Sophomore Katie Thompson and freshman Taylor Rioux kicked off the day with two of the 10-fastest 200-meter times in Air Force history. Clocking a career-best time of 25.28 – the sixth-fastest time in Air Force history, Thompson won her heat by a 0.77-second margin and placed 12th out of 46 runners in the morning session of 200-meter heats. Rioux, who made her 200-meter debut last weekend, moved from 10th to ninth in the Academy Record Book after clocking a personal-best 25.49 to finish 16th in the morning session. In addition, senior Michelle Roca debuted on the program's extended standings of the 200-meter dash, as she used a career-best time of 25.65 – the 12th-fastest time in Air Force history – to win her heat by a half second and finish within the top half of the field (20th).

Rioux and Roca were not done impacting the Air Force Record Book on Saturday, as the pair teamed up with senior Brid O'Connell and sophomore Zoe Iwu to account for the fourth-fastest 4x400-meter relay in program history (3:49.86). O'Connell, who captured a top-five finish in the 800-meter run (2:13.10) earlier in the day, has now run on three of the six-fastest 4x4 relays in Air Force history.

On the men's side, junior Zac Larrier equaled the 15th-fastest 200-meter time in Air Force history – a career-best 21.71 – to finish 22nd out of 74 sprinters in the premier event of Saturday's schedule.

From the field, the men claimed half of the top-four finishes in the shot put, as junior Hayden Bullock and sophomore Gerrit Tamminga finished third (52'1 ¾") and fourth (career-best 51'10"), respectively. The Falcons earned an additional finish within the top-half of the 15-thrower field, as junior Jaret Prete recorded a season-best throw of 49'9¼" to finish seventh. Senior Ari Martinez placed within the top half of the women's high jump, as she cleared 5'5¾" to tie for 12th in the 24-jumper event.

Air Force returns to the Academy next Friday (Feb. 4) to host the Invitational at the Peak.

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Players Mentioned

Hayden Bullock

Zoe Iwu

Zac Larrier

Ari Martinez

Brid O'Connell

Jaret Prete

Taylor Rioux

Michelle Roca

Gerrit Tamminga

Katie Thompson

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