Jaret Prete’s Weight Throw Record Leads Falcons on Friday

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Highlighted by an Academy Record in the weight throw, the second-fastest 200-meter time by a member of the women's team indoors, and the ninth seven-foot high jumper in program history, members of the Air Force track and field team made a huge impact on the Academy Record Book today (Feb. 10), during the opening day of competition at the Don Kirby Invitational in Albuquerque.

AIR FORCE TOP 10 MARKS
Academy Record – Jaret Prete, Weight Throw (66'11")
No. 2 – Taylor Rioux, 200-Meter Dash (24.65)
No. 5 – Jalan Rivers, High Jump (7'1")
No. 7 – Javin Bostic, 200-Meter Dash (21.34)

Senior Jaret Prete broke his own Academy standard twice on Friday, eventually adding more than a foot to the record he set in the same throwing cage last year at the MW Indoor Championships. After opening the competition with a (then) best throw of 66'1", Prete improved that distance by 10 inches on his very next attempt for an Academy Record distance of 66'11". Prete, who also surpassed the 66-foot barrier on his third attempt (66'10"), finished fifth in the 31-thrower event and broke his own Senior Class Record for the third time in four weeks. The Senior standard was one of two Air Force Class Records to fall in the weight throw, as Texas Tanner recorded a career-best 57'8" to break Prete's Freshman Record of 57'3½".

Sophomore Taylor Rioux had another stellar day on the track, as she knocked nearly a half second off her 200-meter time to move into second on the program's all-time standings. Completing the sprint in a time of 24.65 – a mark just 0.01 off the program standard, Rioux easily won her heat and finished within the top-fourth (21st) of the 93-runner event. She returned to the track less than three hours later to clock a 400-meter time of 56.09 – a heat-winning mark just 0.09 off her best – to place sixth out of 51 runners.

The Academy's club of seven-foot high jumpers grew by one on Friday, as sophomore Jalan Rivers became the ninth Falcon in program history to clear that milestone bar. After several good looks at that height in previous meets, Rivers easily cleared 7'1" on his first attempt to move into fifth on the Academy's all-time list and account for the program's best clearance in eight years. Claiming a third-place finish in the meet, Rivers was one of two Falcons to place within the top 10 of the 35-jumper event, as classmate Collin Schulz, another of the program's seven-foot jumpers, recorded a season-best leap of 6'7" to tie for ninth.

Elsewhere at the ABQ Convention Center, sophomore Javin Bostic ran a career-best 200-meter time of 21.34 to finish third out of 42 runners and move into seventh on the program's all-time standings, while freshman Jett Rose added a time of 21.97 to place within the top half of that field (20th). Rose's classmate Nathalia Veal also moved up the program's all-time standings on Friday, as she recorded a career-best pole vault clearance of 11'10" to move to No. 20 in the Record Book and finish fourth in her section.

Junior Kasarah Hernandez matched Veal's clearance to tie for eighth, while classmate Caiden Macktinger posted a height of 16'6½" to finish 10th in the "A" section of the men's pole vault. Sophomore Cameron Breier raced to a 400-meter time of 48.08 to finish eighth out of 42 runners, while junior John Colizzi equaled his season-best long jump of 23'0½" to finish within the top half (21st) of his 54-jumper event.

This contingent of Falcons return to the Albuquerque Convention Center tomorrow (Feb. 11) for the final day of action at the Don Kirby Invitational. Action is slated to begin with the "B" section of the women's pole vault at 8:30 a.m. (MT).

Jaret Prete’s Weight Throw Record Leads Falcons on Friday

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Players Mentioned

Javin Bostic

Cameron Breier

John Colizzi

Kasarah Hernandez

Caiden Macktinger

Jaret Prete

Taylor Rioux

Jalan Rivers

Jettason Rose

Collin Schulz

Texas Tanner

Nathalia Veal

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