Friday, February 24
Albuquerque, NM
10:00 am MT
Air Force Academy
vs
Mountain West Championships
Jaret Prete Repeats Title, Javin Bostic Breaks Record at MW Meet
2/24/2023 10:13:00 PM | Track and Field
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Highlighted by a conference title from senior Jaret Prete and an Academy record from sophomore Javin Bostic, the Air Force track and field team continued action at the Mountain West Indoor Championships in Albuquerque. Accounting for 12 scoring finishes on Friday (Feb. 24), the men continue to lead the conference standings (81 points) after two days of competition.
MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONS
Men's Weight Throw – Jaret Prete
Prete, who became just the second member of the men's team to win a conference title in the weight throw at the 2022 meet last winter, successfully defended that championship with a throw of 65'2". Prete, who posted his championship-winning throw on his opening attempt to better the field by more than two feet, led Air Force to two podium finishes and four scoring placements.
Junior Gerrit Tamminga unleashed a throw of 61'7" – a two-foot personal improvement – to record the first 60-foot throw of his career, move into seventh on the Academy's all-time standings and finish third in the conference. With the medalist finishes by Prete and Tamminga, Air Force claimed multiple podium finishes for the first time since 2017 – and just the second time in program history. The pair were joined in the scoring column by freshman Texas Tanner and senior Jace Pittman. Tanner improved his own Freshman Class Record with a fifth-place throw of 59'10" – a two-foot improvement and the 13th-best throw in Air Force history, while Pittman threw 55'10" – a mark just shy of his own PR – to finish eighth.
Backed by podium finishes from junior Caiden Macktinger and sophomore Robert Postell, the Falcons accounted for half of the scoring finishes in the pole vault – marking the 11th-straight year that Air Force has placed multiple pole vaulters on the podium. Macktinger finished second in the meet with a clearance of 16'6¾", while Postell added a season-best height of 16'2¾" to take third. Freshman Connor Munson and junior Braeden Holcombe finished fifth (15'11") and seventh (14'5¼"), respectively, to help the Falcons to 20 points toward the team total.
The scoring finishes by Holcombe and Munson in the pole vault came just a couple hours after the finished up two days of heptathlon competition, with both Falcons making at least 15 pole vault attempts between the two events. Backed by a strong second day that included a season-best, meet-leading 8.30 in the 60-meter hurdles, a 15'1" clearance in the pole vault and a season-best 2:47.97 in the 1000-meter run, Holcombe moved up the leaderboard to finish second with a season-high 5271 points.
Munson recorded 4801 points to finish seventh in his first conference championship. The freshman posted a meet-best 15'1" pole vault clearance to highlight his day, while adding an 8.86 in the hurdles and a career-best 3:00.82 in the 1000-meter run. The finishes by Holcombe and Munson bookended a fourth-place heptathlon score by junior Brian Hubbard. The junior recorded his first 5000-point outing, with a 5081 total – the 11th-highest total in program history. Career-best marks in the 60-meter hurdles (8.38) and 1000-meter run (2:59.29), as well as a 13'9¼" clearance in the pole vault, completed his day.
Junior Brandon Lindner added to the Falcons' total, as he recorded a career-best distance of 24'2¼" – the fifth-best leap in program history – to finish sixth in the overall field.
AIR FORCE TOP 10 MARKS
Academy Record – Javin Bostic, 60-Meter Dash (6.67)
No. 3 – Taylor Rioux, 400-Meter Dash (55.04)
No. 5 – Javin Bostic, 200-Meter Dash (21.12)
No. 5 – Maddie Edwards, Mile Run (4:57.08, 4:50.61a)
No. 5 – Brandon Lindner, Long Jump (24'2¼", 7.37m)
No. 7 – Gerrit Tamminga, Weight Throw (61'7", 18.77m)
No. 10 – Cameron Breier, 400-Meter Dash (47.66)
In addition to the finals in select field events, numerous qualifying heats were also contested on Friday – with the men advancing at least one runner in every event and qualifying 11 of their 12 preliminary runners into the finals.
Headlining the day's qualifying heats was the Academy Record of 6.67 that Bostic blazed in the opening round of the 60-meter dash. Running the first sub-6.7 in program history, Bostic broke former Academy standout Jamiel Trimble's previous program record by 0.03 seconds and accounted for the fastest 60 ever by a Service Academy runner. Bostic, who bettered the preliminary 60-meter field by 0.08 seconds, returned to the track in the 200-meter dash and promptly clocked the fifth-fastest time in program history (21.12) to advance to his second final.
Bostic will have teammates in both finals, as a pair of seniors – Jacob Trach and Zac Larrier – posted advancing marks in their respective events. Trach clocked a qualifying time of 6.88 (a mark just 0.02 seconds off his PR) to qualify in the 60-meter dash, while Larrier – the reigning MW champion – will look to retain his title with a 21.21 performance in the 200-meter preliminary.
Backed by a prelim-leading time of 7.88 from senior Cameron Harris, Air Force claimed half of the eight finalist slots during today's qualifying round of the 60-meter hurdles. Harris, who earned one of two Auto Qs by winning his heat, will be joined by junior Philip Hundl, sophomore Darek Hackett, and sophomore Seth Meador, who all advanced on time in the 15-hurdler prelim. Hundl recorded a season-best time of 8.09, while Hackett matched his career-best of 8.10 (the 24th-fastest time in program history) and Meador clocked in with a mark of 8.24.
Senior Sam Gilman and junior Sean Maison went 1-2 in their qualifying heat of the mile to advance into the final, as Gilman (the reigning MW mile champion) and Maison (the reigning MW cross country champion) finished in preliminary times of 4:10.89 and 4:11.10, respectively. Sophomore Cameron Breier recorded the 10th-fastest 400-meter time in Air Force history (47.66) to advance on time in that event, while junior Alex Patton rounded out the Falcons' qualifiers with a 1:54.23 finish in the 800-meter run.
On the women's side, Air Force advanced two into tomorrow's finals, as sophomore Taylor Rioux and senior Maddie Edwards claimed some of the fastest times in Academy history to qualify in the 400-meter dash and mile run, respectively. Rioux registered the third-fastest 400-meter time in program history (55.04) to advance on time, while Edwards recorded the Academy's fifth-fastest mile (4:50.61a, 5:57.08 raw) and broke a Senior Class Record that Dolly Patel had held since 1996.
Freshman Jacqui Spencer also impacted the program's all-time standing during qualifying, as she posted a 400-meter time of 58.86 to debut at No. 25 in the Academy Record Book.
Air Force returns to the ABQ Convention Center tomorrow (Feb. 25) morning for Championship Saturday at the Mountain West Indoor Championships. Action begins with the men's high jump at 9:30 a.m. (MT) and all action will be streamed live on the MW Network and MW App.
MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONS
Men's Weight Throw – Jaret Prete
Prete, who became just the second member of the men's team to win a conference title in the weight throw at the 2022 meet last winter, successfully defended that championship with a throw of 65'2". Prete, who posted his championship-winning throw on his opening attempt to better the field by more than two feet, led Air Force to two podium finishes and four scoring placements.
Junior Gerrit Tamminga unleashed a throw of 61'7" – a two-foot personal improvement – to record the first 60-foot throw of his career, move into seventh on the Academy's all-time standings and finish third in the conference. With the medalist finishes by Prete and Tamminga, Air Force claimed multiple podium finishes for the first time since 2017 – and just the second time in program history. The pair were joined in the scoring column by freshman Texas Tanner and senior Jace Pittman. Tanner improved his own Freshman Class Record with a fifth-place throw of 59'10" – a two-foot improvement and the 13th-best throw in Air Force history, while Pittman threw 55'10" – a mark just shy of his own PR – to finish eighth.
Backed by podium finishes from junior Caiden Macktinger and sophomore Robert Postell, the Falcons accounted for half of the scoring finishes in the pole vault – marking the 11th-straight year that Air Force has placed multiple pole vaulters on the podium. Macktinger finished second in the meet with a clearance of 16'6¾", while Postell added a season-best height of 16'2¾" to take third. Freshman Connor Munson and junior Braeden Holcombe finished fifth (15'11") and seventh (14'5¼"), respectively, to help the Falcons to 20 points toward the team total.
The scoring finishes by Holcombe and Munson in the pole vault came just a couple hours after the finished up two days of heptathlon competition, with both Falcons making at least 15 pole vault attempts between the two events. Backed by a strong second day that included a season-best, meet-leading 8.30 in the 60-meter hurdles, a 15'1" clearance in the pole vault and a season-best 2:47.97 in the 1000-meter run, Holcombe moved up the leaderboard to finish second with a season-high 5271 points.
Munson recorded 4801 points to finish seventh in his first conference championship. The freshman posted a meet-best 15'1" pole vault clearance to highlight his day, while adding an 8.86 in the hurdles and a career-best 3:00.82 in the 1000-meter run. The finishes by Holcombe and Munson bookended a fourth-place heptathlon score by junior Brian Hubbard. The junior recorded his first 5000-point outing, with a 5081 total – the 11th-highest total in program history. Career-best marks in the 60-meter hurdles (8.38) and 1000-meter run (2:59.29), as well as a 13'9¼" clearance in the pole vault, completed his day.
Junior Brandon Lindner added to the Falcons' total, as he recorded a career-best distance of 24'2¼" – the fifth-best leap in program history – to finish sixth in the overall field.
AIR FORCE TOP 10 MARKS
Academy Record – Javin Bostic, 60-Meter Dash (6.67)
No. 3 – Taylor Rioux, 400-Meter Dash (55.04)
No. 5 – Javin Bostic, 200-Meter Dash (21.12)
No. 5 – Maddie Edwards, Mile Run (4:57.08, 4:50.61a)
No. 5 – Brandon Lindner, Long Jump (24'2¼", 7.37m)
No. 7 – Gerrit Tamminga, Weight Throw (61'7", 18.77m)
No. 10 – Cameron Breier, 400-Meter Dash (47.66)
In addition to the finals in select field events, numerous qualifying heats were also contested on Friday – with the men advancing at least one runner in every event and qualifying 11 of their 12 preliminary runners into the finals.
Headlining the day's qualifying heats was the Academy Record of 6.67 that Bostic blazed in the opening round of the 60-meter dash. Running the first sub-6.7 in program history, Bostic broke former Academy standout Jamiel Trimble's previous program record by 0.03 seconds and accounted for the fastest 60 ever by a Service Academy runner. Bostic, who bettered the preliminary 60-meter field by 0.08 seconds, returned to the track in the 200-meter dash and promptly clocked the fifth-fastest time in program history (21.12) to advance to his second final.
Bostic will have teammates in both finals, as a pair of seniors – Jacob Trach and Zac Larrier – posted advancing marks in their respective events. Trach clocked a qualifying time of 6.88 (a mark just 0.02 seconds off his PR) to qualify in the 60-meter dash, while Larrier – the reigning MW champion – will look to retain his title with a 21.21 performance in the 200-meter preliminary.
Backed by a prelim-leading time of 7.88 from senior Cameron Harris, Air Force claimed half of the eight finalist slots during today's qualifying round of the 60-meter hurdles. Harris, who earned one of two Auto Qs by winning his heat, will be joined by junior Philip Hundl, sophomore Darek Hackett, and sophomore Seth Meador, who all advanced on time in the 15-hurdler prelim. Hundl recorded a season-best time of 8.09, while Hackett matched his career-best of 8.10 (the 24th-fastest time in program history) and Meador clocked in with a mark of 8.24.
Senior Sam Gilman and junior Sean Maison went 1-2 in their qualifying heat of the mile to advance into the final, as Gilman (the reigning MW mile champion) and Maison (the reigning MW cross country champion) finished in preliminary times of 4:10.89 and 4:11.10, respectively. Sophomore Cameron Breier recorded the 10th-fastest 400-meter time in Air Force history (47.66) to advance on time in that event, while junior Alex Patton rounded out the Falcons' qualifiers with a 1:54.23 finish in the 800-meter run.
On the women's side, Air Force advanced two into tomorrow's finals, as sophomore Taylor Rioux and senior Maddie Edwards claimed some of the fastest times in Academy history to qualify in the 400-meter dash and mile run, respectively. Rioux registered the third-fastest 400-meter time in program history (55.04) to advance on time, while Edwards recorded the Academy's fifth-fastest mile (4:50.61a, 5:57.08 raw) and broke a Senior Class Record that Dolly Patel had held since 1996.
Freshman Jacqui Spencer also impacted the program's all-time standing during qualifying, as she posted a 400-meter time of 58.86 to debut at No. 25 in the Academy Record Book.
Air Force returns to the ABQ Convention Center tomorrow (Feb. 25) morning for Championship Saturday at the Mountain West Indoor Championships. Action begins with the men's high jump at 9:30 a.m. (MT) and all action will be streamed live on the MW Network and MW App.
Players Mentioned
Sprints
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400m Hurdles
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Distance
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Distance
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Hurdles
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Hurdles
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Decathlon
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Decathlon
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Hurdles, High Jump
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Sprints
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Long Jump, Triple Jump
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Pole Vault
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Distance
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Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Decathlon
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Mid-Distance
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Throws
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Pole Vault
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Throws
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Sprints
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Hurdles
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Throws
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Sprints
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