Air Force Heads to Drake Relays, Fresno State Invitational

The Air Force track and field team splits for a pair of meets this weekend, as the championship season draws closer. The runners head to Des Moines, Iowa, for the 112th edition of the famed Drake Relays on April 28-30, while the field event athletes travel to Clovis, Calif., to compete at the Fresno State Invitational on April 29-30.

DRAKE RELAYS INFORMATION
The Drake Relays, presented by Xtream, powered by Mediacom, will take place at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. The meet, which is in its 112th year, will begin with the Distance Carnival on Thursday, April 28, and continue through Saturday, April 30. Live results and a complete schedule of events are located on the Drake Relays' website, while the meet will be broadcast on Runnerspace.com and USATF.tv.

HISTORY 101
Since 1963, Air Force has captured 16 championships at the Drake Relays. The sprint medley squad of Miguel Molas, Terrell Bradford, Sedacy Walden and Michael Rhoads are the program's most recent winners at the Drake Relays, as the quartet ran an Academy Record time of 3:19.33 during their winning performance. The men have finished fourth in each of the last two Relay Cup events (2019, 2021) – a program-best finish they also achieved in 2016, while the women claimed their highest finish (11th) in 2017.

FRESNO STATE INVITATIONAL INFORMATION
The Fresno State Invitational will be held at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis, Calif. – site of the upcoming the conference championship meet – on April 29-30. FloTrack will broadcast the running events, while live results will be available via Real Timing.

AIR FORCE IN THE RANKINGS
Sam Gilman is ranked 21st in the NCAA at 5000 meters, after clocking a time of 13:33.26 at the Mt SAC Relays. Ryan Ioanidis is ranked among the Top 40 (38th) in the 10,000-meter run following a 28:44.03 performance at the Stanford Invitational.

SQUAD GOALS
The men's high jump is ranked fifth in the April 25 edition of the USTFCCCA #EventSquad rankings, as the quartet of Jake Hall, Jalan Rivers, Collin Schulz and Philip Hundl have a combined clearance of 27'0¼". Hundl is also part of the 400-meter hurdles group that is ranked ninth with a time of 3:33.34 (Cameron Breier, La'akea Aiu, Darek Hackett).

REMEMBERING COACH LINDEMAN
Head coach Ralph Lindeman passed away unexpectedly on March 6, 2022, during his 33rd season with the Falcons. From the moment he stepped onto the Academy track in 1989, Air Force benefitted from his leadership and love of coaching. He coached 10 conference championship teams during his distinguished tenure, while Lindeman-coached athletes accounted for eight NCAA titles, more than 200 conference championships and nearly 700 academic all-conference honors.

ON DECK
The Falcons close out the regular season next Friday (May 6), when the host the Air Force Twilight Open – and Senior Day Celebration – at the Cadet Outdoor Track and Field Complex.

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