Saturday, February 11
Boston, MA
8:00 am MT
Air Force Academy
at
David Hemery Valentine Invitational
Photo by: Austin Hutchings
Sam Gilman Crushes Academy, Conference Record for 3000 Meters
2/11/2023 10:55:00 PM | Track and Field
BOSTON, Mass. – An Air Force and Mountain West record from senior Sam Gilman highlighted a stellar night of distance running for members of the men's track team at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Saturday (Feb. 11) night in Boston. Overall, the Falcons made six improvements to the program's all-time standings, including three top-five marks.
AIR FORCE TOP 10 MARKSAcademy Record – Sam Gilman, 3000-Meter Run (7:43.70)
No. 3 – Sean Maison, Mile Run (3:59.33)
No. 4 – Eli Bennett, 3000-Meter Run (7:53.19)
No. 7 – Ethan Marshall, 5000-Meter Run (13:53.70)
Crossing the finish line in a personal-best time of 7:43.70, Gilman deleted more than four seconds off the previous Academy Record he set exactly one year ago at Iowa State. With his 7:43.70, Gilman also reset the program's eight-year-old Senior Class record, broke his own Service Academy record, and became the fastest 3000-meter runner in Mountain West history by a four-second margin. After making his way through the field of the opening heat, which included Olympians and professional runners, Gilman used his trademark kick to win his section – and the overall 268-runner event – by more than a second.
The senior wasn't the only Falcon to make a change to the Top 5 of the program's all-time standings in the 3000-meter event on Friday, as junior Eli Bennett clocked a career-best time of 7:53.19 – a personal improvement of nearly 10 seconds – to move into fourth in the Academy archives. With a late kick, Bennett won his heat and finished 17th in the overall field.
Junior Sean Maison kicked off the Falcons' impressive evening in their first event, as he became the fourth Academy runner to clock a sub-four time in the mile. Crossing the finish line in 3:59.33, Maison – the reigning Mountain West cross country champion – deleted more than two seconds off his previous best time to move into third on the Academy's all-time standings. Finishing third in his heat, Maison placed within the top 50 (45th) of a record-breaking mile event that featured more than 450 competitors.
While Maison opened the meet in the mile, a quartet of 5000-meter Falcons closed the night with three Air Force Top-25 performances and a pair of top-50 finishes in the 179-runner event. Senior Ryan Johnson paced the group in the night's longest race, using a time of 13:46.45 – a mark just shy of his career best (13:45.33, the No. 4 time in Air Force history) – to finish 33rd in the overall field, while classmate Ethan Marshall posted a time of 13:53.70 – a personal improvement of five seconds – to move into seventh on the program's all-time standings and finish 49th in the meet. Junior Ryan Child and freshman Max Sannes, competing in the first 5000-meter races of their collegiate careers, debuted on the program's Top 25 in 22nd and 24th, respectively. Child recorded a time of 14:12.36 to finish 83rd overall, while Sannes – who will represent Team USA at the U20 World Cross Country Championships next week – placed 86th after crossing the finish line in a time of 14:13.50.
The Falcons return to the Academy next Friday (Feb. 17) to host the Air Force Collegiate Open – the final home competition of the indoor season and the final meet with the current configuration of the Cadet Field House Indoor Track, which will begin a major renovation this spring.
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