Air Force Milers Impact Record Book in Boulder

BOULDER, Colo. – Five Air Force milers made some major rewrites to the Academy Record Book at the Colorado Invitational this evening (Jan. 27), as the group wrapped up a full day of track and field competition with one Top-5 time, two Top-10 times, one Top-12 time and a new Senior Class Record.

AIR FORCE TOP 10 MARKS
No. 4 – Rachel Crytser, Women's Mile Run (4:49.83a)
No. 7 – Sean Maison, Men's Mile Run (4:01.78a)
No. 9 – Maddie Edwards, Women's Mile Run (4:52.64a)

Junior Rachel Crytser headlined the outing for the women's lineup, as she raced to the fourth-fastest time in program history during the invitational section of the race. Crossing the finish line in a raw time of 4:57.07, Crytser deleted more than four seconds off her previous best time – which she set on the same track two weeks ago – to move into fourth on the program's all-time standings with an altitude-adjusted time of 4:49.83. Senior Maddie Edwards finished close behind Crytser, as her career-best time of 4:59.95 converted to the ninth-fastest time in Air Force history (4:52.64a).

On the men's side, Sam Gilman clocked a 2023-debut of 4:04.61 (raw) to win the 12-runner invitational field and account for a new Air Force Senior Class Record, as his altitude-adjusted time of 3:58.65a (a mark just off his own program standard) took more than a second off the previous Class record that had stood since 2016. Junior Sean Maison finished fifth in the field (4:07.82 actual) and vaulted into No. 7 on the program's all-time list with an adjusted time of 4:01.78a, while classmate Eli Bennett added a time of 4:10.02 (4:03.93a) to debut at No. 11 on the Academy's all-time standings during his first mile race.

Senior Ryan Johnson and sophomore Ally Peterson both finished among the top half of their respective fields during the invitational section of the 3000-meter run. Johnson, competing in his first meet since the December opener, clocked a time of 8:19.14 to finish seventh out of 18 runners in the men's race, while Peterson posted a time 10:15.62 to finish 11th in the 22-runner women's event.

Elsewhere on the track, junior Amanda Fraga tallied a career-best 60.83 in the 400-meter dash and ran to a season-best 27.08 in the 200-meter dash, while classmate Alex Patton clocked a season-best 1:54.88 in the 800-meter run and freshman Ashton Higginson improved his mile to 4:21.50 in the open section.

A small contingent of young Falcons also competed in the field events at the Colorado Invitational this morning, with freshman Shayla Padilla headlining the group after moving into a tie for 16th on program's all-time high jump standings after clearing a career-high 5'5" to finish second.

Classmate Nic Davis tallied personal-best marks in both throwing events, including a two-foot improvement in the shot put (48'6") to finish within the top-half of the 10-thrower field. Davis (47'10") and sophomore Cooper Stroka (54'7¼") both improved their career distances in the weight throw, while freshman Nathalia Veal posted a personal-best clearance of 10'11¾" to win the USAFA-heavy pole vault.

Although the Colorado Invitational is complete, competition continues for the Falcons tomorrow (Jan. 28), as the rest of the Air Force team wraps up action at the Texas Tech Open in Lubbock.

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