Friday, January 20
USAFA
10:00 am MT
Air Force Academy
vs
Ralph Lindeman Invitational
Photo by: Austin Hutchings
Falcons Continue Action at the Ralph Lindeman Invitational
1/20/2023 8:32:00 PM | Track and Field
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – Highlighted by a pair of Air Force Top 10 marks and a Senior Class Record in the weight throw, the track and field team continued competition at the Ralph Lindeman Invitational this afternoon (Jan. 20) inside the Cadet Field House. The Falcons combined for 13 scoring finishes and advanced several runners into tomorrow's finals during Friday's competition.
AIR FORCE TOP 10 MARKS
No. 8 – Taylor Rioux, 400-Meter Dash (56.78)
No. 9 – Brandon Lindner, Long Jump (24'0¼")
No. 8 – Taylor Rioux, 400-Meter Dash (56.78)
No. 9 – Brandon Lindner, Long Jump (24'0¼")
Lindner became the first Falcon in nine years to surpass the 24-foot barrier in the long jump, as he leapt to a career-best distance of 24'0¼" on his fifth attempt. Accounting for the ninth-best mark in Air Force history – and a personal improvement of more than one foot, the junior finished third in the 21-jumper event.
Senior Jaret Prete was the top collegiate finisher in the weight throw after recording a Senior Class Record of 64'9¾" on his next-to-last attempt. Prete, who finished second in the overall standings, was one of four Falcons to impact the program's Top 25 with scoring performances on Friday afternoon. Junior Gerrit Tamminga recorded a personal-best distance of 57'8½" to improve his own No. 15 mark on the all-time list and finish sixth overall, while senior Jace Pittman tallied a career-long throw of 56'8" to place seventh and move into No. 20 in the record book. Freshman Texas Tanner rounded out the quartet of Falcons to impact the weight throw standings with a scoring finish, as he recorded a career-best distance of 55'2" to debut at No. 23 on the program's all-time standings and finish eighth among collegiate throwers.
Backed by a season-best clearance of 6'9¾" from sophomore Jalan Rivers, a trio of Falcons accumulated points for Air Force in the high jump. Rivers finished third in the 12-jumper event with that clearance, while classmate Gabe Grim and junior Philip Hundl finished seventh and eighth, respectively, following matching clearances of 6'6¾" – a career-best height for Grim and a season-best mark for Hundl.
Junior Brian Hubbard, freshman Connor Munson and junior Braeden Holcombe capped two days of heptathlon competition with a trio of scoring finishes. Hubbard, who finished second amongst the field in the 60-meter hurdles (8.45), accumulated a career-best tally of 4959 points to finish third in the 12-competitor event and move into No. 12 on the program's all-time list, while Munson, the runner-up in the heptathlon pole vault (15'5"), debuted at No. 16 on the Air Force Top 25 with a fourth-place total of 4938 points. Holcombe, who closed out the seven events with a meet-best time of 2:51.17 in the 1000-meter run, tallied 4847 points to finish fifth.
On the women's side, junior Kasarah Hernandez and freshman Chloe Kinlaw tallied matching heights of 11'5¾" to tie for eighth and record scoring finishes for the Falcons. Those heights were career-best clearances for both vaulters and equaled the No. 21 mark on the program's all-time standings.
Several preliminary heats were also contested this afternoon, with the men recording multiple qualifiers in both the 60-meter dash and hurdles.
Sophomore Javin Bostic clocked the fastest qualifying time in the 60-meter dash, running to a 6.74 finish – a mark just 0.01 off his career best and the No. 3 all-time mark – to lead the 30-sprinter preliminary, while seniors Zac Larrier and Jacob Trach both qualified on time. Larrier crossed the finish line in a career-best time of 6.86 to move into No. 21 on the program's all-time list, while Trach added a time of 6.92. In addition to his qualifying mark at 60 meters, Bostic also advanced in the 200-meter dash after posting a 21.67 – a mark just 0.02 off his best – to finish third out of 34 runners in the prelim.
Led by a career-best 8.14 performance from junior Seth Meador, the Falcons went 3-4-5 in the hurdles during qualifying. Meador knocked nearly 0.10 seconds off his time to finish third in the 16-athlete opening round, while Hundl clocked a season-best time of 8.19 and sophomore Darek Hackett added a time of 8.22 to advance to tomorrow's finals.
Rioux recorded a career-best time of 56.78 to finish second in the qualifying round of the women's 400-meter dash and move into eighth on the program's all-time list, while the men earned an advancing finish in that event from sophomore Charles Whitcomb (51.47).
The Falcons return to the Cadet Field House tomorrow (Jan. 21) for the final day of competition at the Ralph Lindeman Invitational. Air Force will honor the meet's namesake prior to the start of the running events, which are slated to begin at 12:00 p.m. (MT).
Players Mentioned
Sprints
/ Track and Field
High Jump
/ Track and Field
Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Decathlon
/ Track and Field
Decathlon
/ Track and Field
Hurdles, High Jump
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Long Jump, Triple Jump
/ Track and Field
Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Decathlon
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
High Jump
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Hurdles
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