Saturday, February 24
Albuquerque, NM
9:30 am MT
Air Force Academy
at
Mountain West Championships
Jalan Rivers, Taylor Rioux Lead Falcons at MW Championships
2/24/2024 4:34:00 PM | Track and Field
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A conference title from junior Jalan Rivers and Academy Records from classmate Taylor Rioux and the women's 4x400-meter relay headlined the final day of competition for Air Force, as they wrapped up competition at the Mountain West Indoor Track and Field Championships in Albuquerque.
| MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONS |
| Jalan Rivers, High Jump |
Rivers successfully defended his conference title in the high jump during the morning's first event, posting a clean sheet throughout his winning clearance of 6'11" – a season best mark that secured the third-straight indoor championship for the Falcons' program. Rivers led the men to three scoring finishes, as freshman Devin Jordan posted a career-best height of 6'9" (No. 23 all-time at Air Force) to finish fifth and senior Philip Hundl recorded a season-best 6'7" to place sixth.
| AIR FORCE RECORDS |
| Taylor Rioux, Women's 400-Meter Dash (54.14) |
| Women's 4x400-Meter Relay (3:42.85) |
Rioux had a stellar day on the Albuquerque oval, clocking a career-best 400-meter time of 54.14 to shatter the previous Academy Record that Megan Irvine had held since 2018 by 0.23 seconds. The junior returned to the track in the meet's final event and led off another Academy Record. Teaming up with freshman Kori Leverenz, freshman Allison Fernstrom, and senior Ava Gilliana, the women's 4x400-meter quartet crossed the finish line in 3:42.85 and took nearly two seconds off a record that had also stood since 2018.
The men, who finished second in the team standings (162-146.50), saw six more Falcons join Rivers on the awards podium during the day. Sophomore Texas Tanner (59'10½" in the shot put), junior Darek Hackett (career-best 7.90 in the 60-meter hurdles) and senior Alex Patton (career-best 1:50.69 in the 800-meter run) all captured bronze medals in their respective events, while Hackett and Patton also impacted their Academy's all-time standings during their individual events. Hackett's 7.90 finish is the seventh-fastest time in Air Force history, while Patton's altitude-adjusted time of 1:50.08a is No. 8 all-time. Hackett returned to the podium after helping the men's 4x400-meter quartet of freshman Jace Martin, freshman James Warmbrod IV, and junior Cameron Breier to a third-place time of 3:12.07 – the eighth-fastest mark in program history.
The Falcons accounted for three scoring finishes in the hurdles, as Hundl and classmate Seth Meador finished sixth (8.04) and seventh (8.07), respectively, behind Hackett, while freshman Mitchell Blakeslee recorded a career-best distance of 52'6¾" to join Tanner on the list of scorers in the shot put (eighth).
Sophomore Ben Scheller finished just 0.01-seconds off the mile podium, as he finished fourth with a time of 4:12.48. Elsewhere on the track, junior Javin Bostic added a fourth-place finish in the 60-meter dash (6.73), while Breier and Warmbrod finished fifth (career-best 47.50, No. 8 all-time at Air Force) and sixth (48.06), respectively, in the 400-meter dash, sophomore Jettason Rose clocked the eighth-fastest time in Academy history (21.27) to finish sixth in the 200-meter dash and senior Eli Bennett finish fifth in the 3000-meter run (8:17.23).
On the track, senior John Colizzi recorded a career-best distance of 48'0" to finish fifth in the triple jump and improve his No. 21 standing on the Academy's all-time list, while classmate Brandon Lindner moved into scoring position on his final attempt and finished sixth with a mark of 47'2½". Three Falcons scored for Air Force in the pole vault, as Robert Postell (15'11¼"), senior Braeden Holcombe (career-best 15'7¼") and freshman Tanner Woodring (career-best 15'7¼") finished 5-6-7 in the standings.
The women tallied 40.50 points to finish eighth – their most points and best finish since 2020, while earning a podium finish from freshman Liliane Aittama and making four more improvements to the Academy's all-time standings.
Aittama finished third in the 800-meter run after clocking a time of 2:09.04 in her first conference meet and, once her time was converted for altitude, improved her own No. 3 and Air Force Freshman Class Record with a 2:08.43a finish. Aittama was one of two freshmen to score in that event, as classmate Camryn Bodine finished fifth in the meet (2:11.41) and improved her No. 5 time with a converted time of 2:10.68a. The women also accounted for a pair of scoring finishes in the 3000-meter run, as junior Halle Hamilton finished fifth in 9:39.14 and sophomore India Jones place seventh with a time of 9:47.28. Jones, who won the opening section of the race, moved into eighth on the program's all-time standings with an altitude-adjusted time of 9:32.82a.
Senior Rebecca Wusinich rounded out scoring for the Falcons with an eighth-place finish in the mile (4:58.31), while freshmen throwers Casey Nixon and Paige Birch debuted on the Academy's all-time shot put standings after recording career-best distances of 39'9¼" (No. 24 all-time) and 39'5¼" (No. 25 all-time, tie), respectively.
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Throws
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Throws
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
400m Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Long Jump, Triple Jump
/ Track and Field
Hurdles, Middle Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Decathlon
/ Track and Field
Hurdles, High Jump
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and FieldLong Jump, Triple Jump
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Long Jump, Triple Jump
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Mid-Distance
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
High Jump
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Distance
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