Falcons Wrap up Weekend at Beach Invitational

LONG BEACH, Calif. – A pair of Air Force Top 10 marks from seniors Jake Hall (high jump) and LaShawn Taylor (triple jump) highlighted the final day of action at the Beach Invitational for the track and field team on Saturday, April 16. The Falcons, wrapping up a busy weekend of competition around Southern California, made six improvements to the Air Force Top 25 and combined for 14 top-20 finishes.

Hall recorded a career-best clearance of 6'11" to move into a tie for sixth on the program's all-time high jump standings, while matching the best height of the day and finishing fourth in the 55-jumper event. Taylor, who also accounted for a top-10 finish in the meet (10th of 34), added nearly a foot to his previous best mark in the triple jump (49'3¾") to climb from 15th to seventh on the Academy's all-time list.

The men made three additional improvements to the program's extended rankings at Jack Rose Track on Saturday, while senior Brid O'Connell impacted the women's Top 25 after accounting for the 11th-fastest 400-meter time in program history (56.56).

The men made their changes to the record book in the two quickest events of the outdoor season. Senior Charles Dimnwaobi debuted in a tie for 13th on the program's all-time standings in the 100-meter dash, as he raced to a career-best time of 10.64 to win his heat and post the top collegiate finish (third) in the full 78-sprinter event. In the 110-meter hurdles, sophomore Philip Hundl clocked a personal-best time of 14.33 to win his heat by 0.47 seconds and move up five spots to 17th on the program's all-time list, while sophomore Seth Meador debuted at No. 24 after posting a career-best, heat-winning time of 14.52.

In addition to his sprint down the 100-meter straight, Dimnwaobi also ran on the 4x100-meter relay that finished third in a time of 40.74. Relay teammate Zac Larrier earned a top-12 finish in his individual event, as he clocked a 400-meter time of 48.44 to win his heat and finish 11th in the full 75-runner field.

Air Force placed a pair of Falcons in the top-15 of the men's pole vault and added another pair of athletes in the top-20 of the 400-meter hurdles. Senior Ethan Gardner tied for sixth in the pole vault (36 competitors) with a 16'3½" clearance, while sophomore Caiden Macktinger recorded a height of 15'9¾" to tie for 14th. On the track, senior La'akea Aiu finished 12th out of 56 athletes in the 400-meter hurdles following a time of 53.06, while freshman Cameron Breier clocked a career-best time of 54.20 to finish 16th in the field. The men added one more top-20 finish from the field, as junior Hayden Bullock recorded a distance of 175'9" to finish 15th out of 91 throwers in the discus.

On the women's side, senior Martinez cleared 5'7¼" to tie for second in the 47-competitor high jump, while classmate Michelle Roca clocked a 60.47 to finish fifth out of 60 athletes in the 400-meter hurdles.

After a busy weekend of travel and competition this weekend, the Falcons have just one meet on the schedule for next week, as they travel to Fort Collins for the Jack Christiansen Invitational on April 22-23.

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