Men Finish Third at Jim Click Shootout

TUCSON, Ariz. – Backed by a stellar night of racing from junior Zac Larrier and senior Charles Dimnwaobi, the Air Force track and field team wrapped up competition at the Jim Click Shootout this evening (April 9) in Tucson. The Falcons combined for 10 improvements to the Air Force Top 10 at Drachman Stadium, while the men finished third, and the women took sixth, against a strong field of Power 5 competition.

Larrier and Dimnwaobi accounted for two of the six-fastest 200-meter times in program history on Saturday, while also running on a pair of Air Force Top 10 relays. Just 0.02 seconds separated the pair in the 200-meter dash, as Larrier posted a time of 20.99 to improve his No. 5 placement on the program's all-time standings and Dimnwaobi deleted 0.50 seconds from his previous best to vault up to No. 6 (21.01). Backed by those two times, they finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 19-sprinter event.

Their career performances in the 200-meter dash were bookended by a pair of standout relay events. Joined by junior Cameron Harris and sophomore Jackson Connelly, Dimnwaobi and Larrier ran the final two legs of the 4x100-meter relay that accounted for the third-fastest time in Air Force history (40.12) during a fourth-place performance at the start of the meet. After anchoring the first relay, Larrier led off the night's final event, as he, Dimnwaobi, freshman Cameron Breier and senior La'akea Aiu combined for the program's 10th-fastest 4x400-meter relay during a 3:10.49 performance.

In addition to running the second leg of the 4x100-meter relay, Connelly also competed in the open 100-meter dash, where he knocked 0.23 seconds off his previous best to debut at No. 10 on the program's all-time standings and pick up a seventh-place finish for the men. Aiu, the anchor of the 4x400-meter relay, added a personal-best time of 52.41 in the 400-meter hurdles to move up two spots to No. 15 on the Academy's all-time standings and capture an eighth-place finish.

Freshmen Joe Nizich and Jalan Rivers debuted on the Air Force Top 10 of their respective events, while leading their teammates to multiple scoring finishes. Nizich set a new Freshman Class Record in the javelin throw, as he unleased the ninth-best distance in program history (216'3") to finish second in the meet and add five inches to the Class standard that Garrett Griffin had held since 2013, while Rivers equaled the Academy's 10th-best high jump clearance (6'10¾") to tie for third and lead the Falcons to half of the scoring finishes in that event. Fellow freshman Collin Schulz and sophomore Philip Hundl finished sixth and seventh, respectively, with matching clearances of 6'6¾" (a career-best for Hundl), while senior Jake Hall added a height of 6'4¾" to finish eighth. Nizich led the Falcons to three of the top-six finishes in the javelin, as sophomore Teagun Glenn posted a season-best throw of 187'2" to finish fifth and senior Jarod Pankau added a toss of 175'2" to place sixth.

In addition to his career-best clearance in the high jump, Hundl also posted a personal-best 110-meter hurdles time of 14.51 to debut at No. 22 on the program's all-time standings and account for a point following his eighth-place finish. Classmate John Colizzi debuted at No. 21 on the Academy's long jump standings, following a career-best, third-place performance of 23'0¾", while senior LaShawn Taylor (season debut, 22'6½") and freshman Travon Stevens-Long (20'10") scored for the Falcons after finishing fifth and sixth, respectively. Taylor and Colizzi also scored for Air Force in the triple jump, as Taylor recorded a distance of 47'2¼" for another fifth-place finish and Colizzi jumped 46'11" to finish sixth.

Junior Sam Gilman captured a first-place finish for the Falcons, as he clocked an outdoor-opening 3:44.06 to win the 1500-meter run and better the 21-runner field by more than two seconds.

The Falcons added three scoring finishes in the pole vault, as well as a pair of top-eight marks in the discus. Senior Ethan Gardner finished second amongst collegiate vaulters (third overall) after clearing 16'4¾", while freshmen Robert Postell and Ben Charlebois posted matching, career-best marks of 15'5" to finish seventh and eighth, respectively, in the collegiate field. Juniors Hayden Bullock (fourth, 175'5") and Jace Pittman (seventh, 162'5") both scored in the discus, while classmate Jaret Prete added an eighth-place throw of 190'10" in the hammer and senior Joseph Wittig posted an event debut of 8:35.46 to finish second among scoring runners in the 3000-meter run and round out the Falcons' point production.

Air Force, the only non-Power 5 school at the Jim Click Shootout, finished third in the men's standings with 109.50 points – a tally just 1.50 points out of second. Iowa won the meet with 174 points, while host Arizona (111) posted the slight margin over the Falcons. Wisconsin finished fourth with 106 points, while Kansas State (96.50) and TCU (79) rounded out the field.

Senior Ari Martinez kicked off the day for the women, as she equaled her career-best high jump clearance of 5'8¾" – the third-best clearance in Air Force history – to tie for third and put the women on the board.

Classmate Grace Proesch also impacted the program's all-time Top 10 during a scoring performance on Saturday, as she clocked the 10th-fastest 400-meter time in program history (56.41) to finish eighth in the meet. The senior, who has now impacted the Top 12 of Air Force's all-time standings in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter events this season, was one of two Falcons to score for the women in the 400-meter dash, as freshman Taylor Roesch posted the 14th-fastest time in program history (57.26) to finish eighth among scoring runners (ninth overall).

The women also accounted for multiple scoring finishes in the javelin throw and 1500-meter run. Sophomore Alexxis Brown registered the second-best throw of her career (139'11") to earn runner-up honors in the javelin – the women's best finish of the day at Drachman Stadium, while junior Ally Stauffer recorded a distance of 115'1" to claim a sixth-place finish in that event. Freshman Sydney Weaber (career-best 4:40.39) and sophomore Ava Gilliana (4:45.61) finished fifth and seventh, respectively, amongst scoring runners of the 1500-meter run, while senior Michelle Roca rounded out the women's scoring with a seventh-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles (season-best 60.60).

The women combined for 27.50 points to finish sixth in the overall team standings. Arizona won its home competition with 156.50 points, while 24th-ranked Iowa finished second with 140 points. Wisconsin rounded out the top three, as it edged Kansas State 115-110, and TCU finished fifth with 87 points.

Three other Falcons also made improvements to the program's all-time standings on Saturday. Senior Frankie Porambo and sophomore Zoe Iwu impacted the women's record book, as Porambo recorded a career-best pole vault clearance of 12'5½" to move into a tie for 10th on the all-time standings and Iwu improved her Air Force placement in the 200-meter dash (25.71 – No. 16 all-time) and debuted at No. 25 on the program's 400-meter list (58.34). On the men's side, freshman Darek Hackett clocked a career-best 400-meter hurdles time of 52.71 to move up two spots to No. 18 on the program's all-time list.

The Falcons head to California next weekend for several meets in the greater Los Angeles area, including the Mt. SAC Relays (April 14-16), Bryan Clay Invitational (April 14-15), and Beach Invitational (April 15-16).

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Players Mentioned

La‘akea Aiu

Cameron Breier

Alexxis Brown

Hayden Bullock

John Colizzi

Jackson Connelly

Charles Dimnwaobi

Ethan Gardner

Ava Gilliana

Sam Gilman

Teagun Glenn

Darek Hackett

Jake Hall

Cameron Harris

Philip Hundl

Zoe Iwu

Zac Larrier

Ari Martinez

Joe Nizich

Jarod Pankau

Jace Pittman

Frankie Porambo

Robert Postell

Jaret Prete

Grace Proesch

Jalan Rivers

Michelle Roca

Collin Schulz

Ally Stauffer

Travon Stevens-Long

LaShawn Taylor

Sydney Weaber

Joseph Wittig

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