Thursday, February 23
Albuquerque, NM
10:00 am MT
Air Force Academy
vs
Mountain West Championships
Photo by: JB Gallegos
Men Open Conference Meet with DMR Victory
2/23/2023 9:49:00 PM | Track and Field
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Air Force successfully defended its distance medley relay title this evening (Feb. 23), as the track and field team opened competition at the Mountain West Indoor Championships in Albuquerque. Backed by the DMR victory and a pair of top-five finishes in the 5000-meter run, the men lead the competition with 22 points.
MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONS
Men's Distance Medley Relay – Eli Bennett, Darek Hackett, Alex Patton, Sam Gilman
For the second-straight year, senior Sam Gilman anchored the Falcons to the conference title in the distance medley relay – and one of the fastest times in Academy history – as he methodically closed the gap between himself and the overall leader until the last 50 meters, he used his trademark kick to take the lead and the title – the fourth DMR championship in program history (2002, 2012, 2022, 2023).
Gilman was joined on the race around the Albuquerque oval by junior Eli Bennett, sophomore Darek Hackett and junior Alex Patton. The quartet combined for a time of 9:41.30 and an altitude-adjusted mark of 9:32.51a, which is the fourth-fastest time in the Air Force record books.
The senior duo of Ryan Johnson and Ethan Marshall put the Falcons on the leaderboard in the men's first final, as they combined for 12 points after finishing second and fifth, respectively, in the 5000-meter run. Taking the race out quick, Johnson clocked a time of 14:18.29 (13:55.59a) to capture runner-up honors, while Marshall added a time of 14:24.67 (14:04.73a) to finish fifth in the 22-runner event.
AIR FORCE TOP 10 MARKS
No. 4 – Men's Distance Medley Relay (9:32.51a)
No. 6 – Women's Distance Medley Relay (11:46.99a)
The men weren't the only Air Force DMR to improve the top 10 of the Academy Record Book on Thursday, as the women recorded the sixth-fastest time in Air Force history and earned their first points of the meet with a fifth-place finish. Senior Maddie Edwards, freshman Jacqui Spencer, sophomore Ellie Vazzana, and junior Rachel Crytser combined for a time of 11:57.85 (11:46.99a) in their first race together, while Crytser picked off several teams during her anchor leg to move the Falcons into fifth and put the team on the board with four points – a tally that places the Falcons in seventh after the first three events.
Sophomore Ally Peterson also impacted the program's all-time standings during the opening day, as she raced to a 5000-meter finish of 17:22.74 during her indoor debut at that distance. With the altitude of Albuquerque, Peterson's 16:55.16a is the 12th-fastest time in program history.
In addition to today's finals, the first four events of the heptathlon also took place.
Backed by three career-best marks, junior Brian Hubbard leads a trio of Falcons with a fourth-place tally of 2849 points – the best Day 1 score of his career. Hubbard opened with a personal-best 7.06 in the 60-meter dash – the fastest time by any MW heptathlete this year. He added a career-best distance of 40'3¼" in the shot put and improved his personal height in the high jump twice to finish with a 6'0¾" after going 7-for-10 on first attempt clearances. A long jump distance of 21'3½" rounded out his opening day total.
Classmate Braeden Holcombe finished the day just 63 points back from Hubbard, sitting fifth with 2786 points after four events. The junior, who closed the day by matching his career-best of 6'5½" in the high jump – the second-highest of the meet for 776 points – posted a season-best time of 7.38 in the 60-meter dash, while adding distances of 21'4¾" and 36'7½" in the long jump and shot put respectively. Freshman Connor Munson rounded out trio, tallying 2578 points (eighth) during the opening day of his first conference meet. Munson accounted for a personal-best distance of 40'11" in the shot put and the second-highest high jump clearance of his career (6'3¼" – a mark just a quarter inch off his PR), as well as a 7.69 in the 60-meter dash and a 19'4¾" in the long jump.
The heptathlon trio kick off Day 2 of the Mountain West Indoor Championships tomorrow (Feb. 24) at 10:00 a.m. (MT). All events will be streamed live on the MW Network and MW App.
MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONS
Men's Distance Medley Relay – Eli Bennett, Darek Hackett, Alex Patton, Sam Gilman
For the second-straight year, senior Sam Gilman anchored the Falcons to the conference title in the distance medley relay – and one of the fastest times in Academy history – as he methodically closed the gap between himself and the overall leader until the last 50 meters, he used his trademark kick to take the lead and the title – the fourth DMR championship in program history (2002, 2012, 2022, 2023).
Gilman was joined on the race around the Albuquerque oval by junior Eli Bennett, sophomore Darek Hackett and junior Alex Patton. The quartet combined for a time of 9:41.30 and an altitude-adjusted mark of 9:32.51a, which is the fourth-fastest time in the Air Force record books.
The senior duo of Ryan Johnson and Ethan Marshall put the Falcons on the leaderboard in the men's first final, as they combined for 12 points after finishing second and fifth, respectively, in the 5000-meter run. Taking the race out quick, Johnson clocked a time of 14:18.29 (13:55.59a) to capture runner-up honors, while Marshall added a time of 14:24.67 (14:04.73a) to finish fifth in the 22-runner event.
AIR FORCE TOP 10 MARKS
No. 4 – Men's Distance Medley Relay (9:32.51a)
No. 6 – Women's Distance Medley Relay (11:46.99a)
The men weren't the only Air Force DMR to improve the top 10 of the Academy Record Book on Thursday, as the women recorded the sixth-fastest time in Air Force history and earned their first points of the meet with a fifth-place finish. Senior Maddie Edwards, freshman Jacqui Spencer, sophomore Ellie Vazzana, and junior Rachel Crytser combined for a time of 11:57.85 (11:46.99a) in their first race together, while Crytser picked off several teams during her anchor leg to move the Falcons into fifth and put the team on the board with four points – a tally that places the Falcons in seventh after the first three events.
Sophomore Ally Peterson also impacted the program's all-time standings during the opening day, as she raced to a 5000-meter finish of 17:22.74 during her indoor debut at that distance. With the altitude of Albuquerque, Peterson's 16:55.16a is the 12th-fastest time in program history.
In addition to today's finals, the first four events of the heptathlon also took place.
Backed by three career-best marks, junior Brian Hubbard leads a trio of Falcons with a fourth-place tally of 2849 points – the best Day 1 score of his career. Hubbard opened with a personal-best 7.06 in the 60-meter dash – the fastest time by any MW heptathlete this year. He added a career-best distance of 40'3¼" in the shot put and improved his personal height in the high jump twice to finish with a 6'0¾" after going 7-for-10 on first attempt clearances. A long jump distance of 21'3½" rounded out his opening day total.
Classmate Braeden Holcombe finished the day just 63 points back from Hubbard, sitting fifth with 2786 points after four events. The junior, who closed the day by matching his career-best of 6'5½" in the high jump – the second-highest of the meet for 776 points – posted a season-best time of 7.38 in the 60-meter dash, while adding distances of 21'4¾" and 36'7½" in the long jump and shot put respectively. Freshman Connor Munson rounded out trio, tallying 2578 points (eighth) during the opening day of his first conference meet. Munson accounted for a personal-best distance of 40'11" in the shot put and the second-highest high jump clearance of his career (6'3¼" – a mark just a quarter inch off his PR), as well as a 7.69 in the 60-meter dash and a 19'4¾" in the long jump.
The heptathlon trio kick off Day 2 of the Mountain West Indoor Championships tomorrow (Feb. 24) at 10:00 a.m. (MT). All events will be streamed live on the MW Network and MW App.
Players Mentioned
Distance
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Decathlon
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Distance
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Decathlon
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Mid-Distance
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Distance
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Hurdles
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