Bryce Lentz, Sam Gilman Advance Out of West

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Two Air Force distance runners – freshman Bryce Lentz and junior Sam Gilman – advanced to next month's NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships following strong performances at the NCAA West Preliminary this evening (May 27) in Fayetteville.

Lentz captured the Falcons' first ticket to famed Hayward Field on Friday, as he posted a career-best time of 8:39.73 to finish third in his heat of the 3000-meter steeplechase and earn an automatic bid to the final site of the NCAA Outdoor Championships. With the top-three finishers in each heat earning an outright trip to the national semifinals in Eugene, Lentz used a strong push over the final lap to claim the last Auto spot of his heat by a 0.27-second margin. With his 8:39.73 finish, Lentz improved his own Air Force Freshman Class Record for the third time and bettered his No. 3 standing on the program's all-time list.

He is the first member of the men's team to advance to the final NCAA site in the steeplechase since Jim Walmsley in 2012. Lentz is the fourth Falcon since 2004 to advance out of the regional/prelim round, joining Walmsley (2012), Justin Tyner (2011) and Mahala Norris, the 2021 women's national champion.

Gilman joined Lentz on Air Force's travel squad less than three hours later, as he used a dominant push on the final lap to win the first 5000-meter heat in 13:38.09. After biding his time in the back half of the pack during the first 4000 meters, Gilman worked his way through the field and moved into the top 12 by the 4200-meter split. Moving into 10th at the bell, Gilman pushed into high gear on the backstretch and used a final 55.34 lap to take down the remaining competitors and win the heat by a half second.

Qualifying to his third NCAA Championship of the academic year (cross country, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field), Gilman is the first member of the men's team to advance to the NCAA semifinals in the outdoor 5000-meter run since Patrick Corona in 2016.

Fellow junior Ryan Johnson, who ran in the second section of the 5000-meter run, clocked a time of 13:46.28 to finish 13th in his heat and 24th in the full event standings – a placement that was 17 spots higher than his seeding.

Air Force closes out the NCAA West Prelim tomorrow (May 28), when newly commissioned Air Force second lieutenant Ari Martinez competes in the high jump at 2:30 p.m. (CT).

Footer

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the u.s air force of non-u.s. government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although the u.s. air force may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for department of defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sam Gilman

Ryan Johnson

Bryce Lentz

Ari Martinez

Mahala Norris

Footer