Saturday, February 25
Albuquerque, NM
9:30 am MT
Air Force Academy
vs
Mountain West Championships
Air Force Men Repeat as Mountain West Champions
2/25/2023 5:14:00 PM | Track and Field
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Claiming the first three titles of Championship Saturday in a span of 15 minutes, the Air Force men's track and field team successfully defended their Mountain West title this afternoon (Feb. 25), rolling to a dominating 82-point victory at the conference meet in Albuquerque.
Scoring at least one point in every event – and seeing every member of the 28-man travel roster earn at least one scoring finish – the Falcons accumulated the conference's highest point total in 14 years – a 208-point performance that easily bettered the rest of the Mountain West – Colorado State (126), New Mexico (97), San Jose State (86), Utah State (64), Wyoming (49) and Boise State (28).
MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONS
Men's High Jump – Jalan Rivers
Men's Shot Put – Hayden Bullock
Men's Mile Run – Sam Gilman
Men's 3000-Meter Run – Eli Bennett
The Falcons, who entered the day with 81 points and a 36-point advantage over the field, started adding to their total right from the start – claiming simultaneous championships on opposite ends of the Albuquerque Convention Center. Going a perfect seven-for-seven on first attempt clearances, sophomore Jalan Rivers recorded a height of 7'0½" to claim his first – and the program's fourth (second-straight) – title in the high jump, while across the building, senior Hayden Bullock unleashed a career-best throw of 59'7½" to win the shot put and better the defending champion by more than eight inches.
Bullock, who improved his personal distance in the shot put during each of his first two throws (58'3¼", 58'6¾), unleashed his winning throw of 59'7½" on his fifth attempt – the only thrower to surpass the 18-meter mark on Saturday (18.17m), as he jumped to No. 2 on the program's all-time standing and became the third Falcon to claim a Mountain West title in the men's shot put – and the first since 2015.
Just moments after the back-to-back award ceremonies for Rivers and Bullock, senior Sam Gilman joined Air Force's parade of champions, as he clocked a time of 4:04.81 to defend his MW title in the mile run and put a Falcon on top of the podium for the third time in as many presentations. The senior, who anchored the Falcons' to the distance medley relay on Thursday, became just the third Mountain West runner to repeat as conference champion in the mile.
The trio of champions weren't alone in in the opening minutes of the meet, as Air Force racked up 51 points during those three events and nearly doubled their advantage over the field (132-63). Junior Sean Maison – the reigning MW cross country champion – posted a second-place time of 4:06.06 to help Air Force to a 1-2 finish in the mile, while freshman Texas Tanner joined Bullock on the awards podium of the shot put after recording the eighth-best distance in Academy history (57'6½") to finish third in the meet and reset the program's 2014 Freshman Class Record. Junior Philip Hundl and sophomore Collin Schulz completed the scoring frenzy of the opening block of competition, as the pair finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the high jump following matching 6'8" performances.
Air Force bookended its list of champions in the final individual event of the day, as junior Eli Bennett captured the second-straight 3000-meter title for the Falcons. After battling near the front for most of the race, Bennett took the lead just after the bell and never looked back – crossing the finish line in 8:10.97 to win the 39-runner championship by more than a second. Senior Ryan Johnson also scored for the Falcons in the 3000-meter run, as he clocked a time of 8:15.16 to finish fourth.
In between, the Falcons accounted for five more trips to the podium and 13 more scoring finishes.
A runner-up finish from senior Cameron Harris helped Air Force to a 19-point outing in the 60-meter hurdles, as the Falcons claimed four of the top seven finishes. Harris raced to the third-fastest time in Academy history (7.77) to finish second in the final, while sophomore Darek Hackett (fourth, career-best 8.08 – No. 23 all-time), classmate Seth Meador (fifth, career-best 8.13) and Hundl (seventh, 8.54) rounded out the Falcons' point scorers in that event.
Senior Zac Larrier recorded the second-fastest 200-meter time in Academy history (20.91) to finish second in the championship race and lead the Falcons to a pair of top-five finishes, as sophomore Javin Bostic finished fifth in a time of 21.29 – a mark that is the second quickest of his young career.
Larrier and Hackett, who ran the sprint leg of the winning distance medley relay on Thursday, captured their second medal of the weekend in the day's final event, as they were bookended by sophomore Cameron Breier and junior John Colizzi on the 4x400-meter relay that used the 10th-fastest time in program history (3:12.68) to finish second for the team's final eight points of the weekend.
Bostic and junior Brandon Lindner rounded out the list of podium finishers for Air Force, as Bostic finished third in the 60-meter dash (6.80) and Lindner recorded a distance of 48'8¾" to earn the same placement in the triple jump. Colizzi added a fourth-place finish in the triple jump following a season-best performance of 47'7¼", while senior Jacob Trach clocked a 6.92 to finish seventh in the 60-meter dash.
In addition to his lead-off leg in the 4x400-meter relay, Breier matched his career-best of 47.66 – a mark first set during yesterday's preliminary round and the 10th-fastest time in Academy history – to finish eighth in the 400-meter dash, while junior Alex Patton rounded out the Falcons' scoring lineup with a seventh-place time of 1:53.93 in the 800-meter run.
The 208 points, which guided Air Force to its fifth MW Indoor title since 2012, is the largest scoring haul by any conference team since 2009 and the second-highest total in conference history.
AIR FORCE TOP 10 MARKS
No. 2 – Zac Larrier, 200-Meter Dash (20.91)
No. 2 – Hayden Bullock, Shot Put (59'7½", 18.17m)
No. 3 – Cameron Harris, 60-Meter Hurdles (7.77)
No. 8 – Texas Tanner, Shot Put (57'6½", 17.54m)
No. 10 – Cameron Breier, 400-Meter Dash (47.66)
No. 10 – Men's 4x400-Meter Relay (3:12.68)
Sophomore Taylor Rioux picked up a scoring finish for the women, who finished 11th in the team standings, as she recorded the second-fastest time of her career (55.32) to finish seventh.
The women made three improvements to the Academy Record Book on Saturday. Rioux led off the 4x400-meter relay of freshman Jacqui Spencer, junior Amanda Fraga, and freshman Sam Loida that combined for the 15th-fastest time in program history (3:54.55), while sophomore Ally Peterson improved her own No. 11 standing in the 3000-meter run (9:39.74a, 9:54.38 raw) and junior Kasarah Hernandez added three-quarters of an inch to her height in the pole vault (11'10¾") to take over No. 20 outright on the all-time standings.
Scoring at least one point in every event – and seeing every member of the 28-man travel roster earn at least one scoring finish – the Falcons accumulated the conference's highest point total in 14 years – a 208-point performance that easily bettered the rest of the Mountain West – Colorado State (126), New Mexico (97), San Jose State (86), Utah State (64), Wyoming (49) and Boise State (28).
MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONS
Men's High Jump – Jalan Rivers
Men's Shot Put – Hayden Bullock
Men's Mile Run – Sam Gilman
Men's 3000-Meter Run – Eli Bennett
The Falcons, who entered the day with 81 points and a 36-point advantage over the field, started adding to their total right from the start – claiming simultaneous championships on opposite ends of the Albuquerque Convention Center. Going a perfect seven-for-seven on first attempt clearances, sophomore Jalan Rivers recorded a height of 7'0½" to claim his first – and the program's fourth (second-straight) – title in the high jump, while across the building, senior Hayden Bullock unleashed a career-best throw of 59'7½" to win the shot put and better the defending champion by more than eight inches.
Bullock, who improved his personal distance in the shot put during each of his first two throws (58'3¼", 58'6¾), unleashed his winning throw of 59'7½" on his fifth attempt – the only thrower to surpass the 18-meter mark on Saturday (18.17m), as he jumped to No. 2 on the program's all-time standing and became the third Falcon to claim a Mountain West title in the men's shot put – and the first since 2015.
Just moments after the back-to-back award ceremonies for Rivers and Bullock, senior Sam Gilman joined Air Force's parade of champions, as he clocked a time of 4:04.81 to defend his MW title in the mile run and put a Falcon on top of the podium for the third time in as many presentations. The senior, who anchored the Falcons' to the distance medley relay on Thursday, became just the third Mountain West runner to repeat as conference champion in the mile.
The trio of champions weren't alone in in the opening minutes of the meet, as Air Force racked up 51 points during those three events and nearly doubled their advantage over the field (132-63). Junior Sean Maison – the reigning MW cross country champion – posted a second-place time of 4:06.06 to help Air Force to a 1-2 finish in the mile, while freshman Texas Tanner joined Bullock on the awards podium of the shot put after recording the eighth-best distance in Academy history (57'6½") to finish third in the meet and reset the program's 2014 Freshman Class Record. Junior Philip Hundl and sophomore Collin Schulz completed the scoring frenzy of the opening block of competition, as the pair finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the high jump following matching 6'8" performances.
Air Force bookended its list of champions in the final individual event of the day, as junior Eli Bennett captured the second-straight 3000-meter title for the Falcons. After battling near the front for most of the race, Bennett took the lead just after the bell and never looked back – crossing the finish line in 8:10.97 to win the 39-runner championship by more than a second. Senior Ryan Johnson also scored for the Falcons in the 3000-meter run, as he clocked a time of 8:15.16 to finish fourth.
In between, the Falcons accounted for five more trips to the podium and 13 more scoring finishes.
A runner-up finish from senior Cameron Harris helped Air Force to a 19-point outing in the 60-meter hurdles, as the Falcons claimed four of the top seven finishes. Harris raced to the third-fastest time in Academy history (7.77) to finish second in the final, while sophomore Darek Hackett (fourth, career-best 8.08 – No. 23 all-time), classmate Seth Meador (fifth, career-best 8.13) and Hundl (seventh, 8.54) rounded out the Falcons' point scorers in that event.
Senior Zac Larrier recorded the second-fastest 200-meter time in Academy history (20.91) to finish second in the championship race and lead the Falcons to a pair of top-five finishes, as sophomore Javin Bostic finished fifth in a time of 21.29 – a mark that is the second quickest of his young career.
Larrier and Hackett, who ran the sprint leg of the winning distance medley relay on Thursday, captured their second medal of the weekend in the day's final event, as they were bookended by sophomore Cameron Breier and junior John Colizzi on the 4x400-meter relay that used the 10th-fastest time in program history (3:12.68) to finish second for the team's final eight points of the weekend.
Bostic and junior Brandon Lindner rounded out the list of podium finishers for Air Force, as Bostic finished third in the 60-meter dash (6.80) and Lindner recorded a distance of 48'8¾" to earn the same placement in the triple jump. Colizzi added a fourth-place finish in the triple jump following a season-best performance of 47'7¼", while senior Jacob Trach clocked a 6.92 to finish seventh in the 60-meter dash.
In addition to his lead-off leg in the 4x400-meter relay, Breier matched his career-best of 47.66 – a mark first set during yesterday's preliminary round and the 10th-fastest time in Academy history – to finish eighth in the 400-meter dash, while junior Alex Patton rounded out the Falcons' scoring lineup with a seventh-place time of 1:53.93 in the 800-meter run.
The 208 points, which guided Air Force to its fifth MW Indoor title since 2012, is the largest scoring haul by any conference team since 2009 and the second-highest total in conference history.
AIR FORCE TOP 10 MARKS
No. 2 – Zac Larrier, 200-Meter Dash (20.91)
No. 2 – Hayden Bullock, Shot Put (59'7½", 18.17m)
No. 3 – Cameron Harris, 60-Meter Hurdles (7.77)
No. 8 – Texas Tanner, Shot Put (57'6½", 17.54m)
No. 10 – Cameron Breier, 400-Meter Dash (47.66)
No. 10 – Men's 4x400-Meter Relay (3:12.68)
Sophomore Taylor Rioux picked up a scoring finish for the women, who finished 11th in the team standings, as she recorded the second-fastest time of her career (55.32) to finish seventh.
The women made three improvements to the Academy Record Book on Saturday. Rioux led off the 4x400-meter relay of freshman Jacqui Spencer, junior Amanda Fraga, and freshman Sam Loida that combined for the 15th-fastest time in program history (3:54.55), while sophomore Ally Peterson improved her own No. 11 standing in the 3000-meter run (9:39.74a, 9:54.38 raw) and junior Kasarah Hernandez added three-quarters of an inch to her height in the pole vault (11'10¾") to take over No. 20 outright on the all-time standings.
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
400m Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Long Jump, Triple Jump
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Hurdles, High Jump
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Long Jump, Triple Jump
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Mid-Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
High Jump
/ Track and Field
High Jump
/ Track and Field
Hurdles
/ Track and FieldThrows
/ Track and Field
Sprints
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