Wednesday, May 22
Fayetteville, AR
8:00 am MT
Air Force Academy
at
NCAA West Preliminary
Photo by: Jameel Pugh, XTG Media
Falcons Ready to Open Action at NCAA West Prelim
5/21/2024 2:17:00 PM | Track and Field
Fifteen members of the Air Force track and field team will travel to Fayetteville, Ark., this week for the West Preliminary of the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The four-day event, which will be held at John McDonnell Field on the Arkansas campus, will begin on Wednesday, May 22, and continue through Saturday, May 25.
MEET INFORMATION
The West Preliminary serves as the opening round of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The men will compete on Wednesday and Friday, while the women are scheduled for Thursday and Saturday (a complete breakdown of Air Force events can be found on Pace 2 of this release). Single-day tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for youth, college students and seniors (all-session passes are also available). Live results will be available for all four days of competition, courtesy of Flash Results and the NCAA, while the meet will be broadcast live on SEC Network+.
HOW THIS WORKS
The NCAA Outdoor Championships begin at two sites (the West Prelim in Fayetteville, Ark., and the East Prelim in Lexington, Ky.). Each region features the top 48 accepted athletes in each event and the top 24 teams in each relay. The top 12 finishers from each event at the two preliminary sites will advance to Eugene, Ore. – the final site of the NCAA Outdoor Championships – on June 5-8.
BY THE NUMBERS
The Falcons earned 18 bids into the NCAA West Prelim, as 12 men and three women will compete in 15 different events.
WHO TO WATCH
The men qualified multiple athletes in the hammer throw (Gerrit Tamminga, Texas Tanner, Cooper Stroka) and 400-meter hurdles (Cameron Breier, Darek Hackett), while Air Force will be represented in both the men's and women's steeplechase (Jason Renze, Rachel Crytser) and 10,000-meter run (Luke Combs, India Jones). Tanner will also compete in the shot put and discus throw, while Joe Nizich's spot in the javelin throw will give Air Force a representative in all four throwing events. Javin Bostic will race in both the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints, while Sean Maison (1500-meter run), Halle Hamilton (5000-meter run), Jalan Rivers (high jump) and Brandon Lindner (long jump) will round out the Falcons' list of competitors.
THE EXPERIENCED TRAVELER
Darek Hackett and Joe Nizich are making their third-straight trip to the NCAA West Prelim, while Javin Bostic, Cameron Breier, Rachel Crytser, Sean Maison, Jason Renze and Jalan Rivers are making their second.
AIR FORCE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Headlined by a Top 10 ranking from Texas Tanner (No. 9 in the hammer throw, 237'5"), three Falcons are listed among the NCAA's Top 25 in the May 20 TFRRS rankings. Tanner holds a second top-25 placement in the discus throw (194'8", 22nd), while Darek Hackett is ranked No. 17 in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 50.03 and Luke Combs is listed 25th in the 10,000-meter run following a 28:24.84 finish.
#SQUADGOALS
The men's hammer throw finished the regular season ranked in the nation's Top 5 of the USTFCCCA #EventSquad rankings – a list which is determined by the cumulative season-best marks from a team's top-four athletes in the national descending order list. Texas Tanner, Gerrit Tamminga, Cooper Stroka and Massimo Grisotto recorded a combined distance of 249.75 meters – the best distance outside of a Power 5 squad. The men were also ranked among the nation's top-15 in the discus throw (12th) and both hurdle events (13th, 110-meter hurdles; 13th, 400-meter hurdles).
THE MAKING OF A DYNASTY
The men's track and field team has accounted for 13 Mountain West team titles since 2012. That total, which includes five indoor (2012, 2016, 2018, 2022, 2023) and eight outdoor (2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023, 2024) titles, is six more than all other Academy programs combined. And, as the school's overall record includes five Mountain West championships in men's cross country (2003, 2015, 2020, 2021, 2022), the @AF_TFXC program has accounted for 18 of the Academy's 20 MW trophies.
COMING UP
The 2024 collegiate season comes to a close in two weeks, as the top 12 finishers from each event at this week's two preliminary sites travel to Eugene, Ore., for the final rounds of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on June 5-8.
MEET INFORMATION
The West Preliminary serves as the opening round of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The men will compete on Wednesday and Friday, while the women are scheduled for Thursday and Saturday (a complete breakdown of Air Force events can be found on Pace 2 of this release). Single-day tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for youth, college students and seniors (all-session passes are also available). Live results will be available for all four days of competition, courtesy of Flash Results and the NCAA, while the meet will be broadcast live on SEC Network+.
HOW THIS WORKS
The NCAA Outdoor Championships begin at two sites (the West Prelim in Fayetteville, Ark., and the East Prelim in Lexington, Ky.). Each region features the top 48 accepted athletes in each event and the top 24 teams in each relay. The top 12 finishers from each event at the two preliminary sites will advance to Eugene, Ore. – the final site of the NCAA Outdoor Championships – on June 5-8.
BY THE NUMBERS
The Falcons earned 18 bids into the NCAA West Prelim, as 12 men and three women will compete in 15 different events.
WHO TO WATCH
The men qualified multiple athletes in the hammer throw (Gerrit Tamminga, Texas Tanner, Cooper Stroka) and 400-meter hurdles (Cameron Breier, Darek Hackett), while Air Force will be represented in both the men's and women's steeplechase (Jason Renze, Rachel Crytser) and 10,000-meter run (Luke Combs, India Jones). Tanner will also compete in the shot put and discus throw, while Joe Nizich's spot in the javelin throw will give Air Force a representative in all four throwing events. Javin Bostic will race in both the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints, while Sean Maison (1500-meter run), Halle Hamilton (5000-meter run), Jalan Rivers (high jump) and Brandon Lindner (long jump) will round out the Falcons' list of competitors.
THE EXPERIENCED TRAVELER
Darek Hackett and Joe Nizich are making their third-straight trip to the NCAA West Prelim, while Javin Bostic, Cameron Breier, Rachel Crytser, Sean Maison, Jason Renze and Jalan Rivers are making their second.
AIR FORCE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Headlined by a Top 10 ranking from Texas Tanner (No. 9 in the hammer throw, 237'5"), three Falcons are listed among the NCAA's Top 25 in the May 20 TFRRS rankings. Tanner holds a second top-25 placement in the discus throw (194'8", 22nd), while Darek Hackett is ranked No. 17 in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 50.03 and Luke Combs is listed 25th in the 10,000-meter run following a 28:24.84 finish.
#SQUADGOALS
The men's hammer throw finished the regular season ranked in the nation's Top 5 of the USTFCCCA #EventSquad rankings – a list which is determined by the cumulative season-best marks from a team's top-four athletes in the national descending order list. Texas Tanner, Gerrit Tamminga, Cooper Stroka and Massimo Grisotto recorded a combined distance of 249.75 meters – the best distance outside of a Power 5 squad. The men were also ranked among the nation's top-15 in the discus throw (12th) and both hurdle events (13th, 110-meter hurdles; 13th, 400-meter hurdles).
THE MAKING OF A DYNASTY
The men's track and field team has accounted for 13 Mountain West team titles since 2012. That total, which includes five indoor (2012, 2016, 2018, 2022, 2023) and eight outdoor (2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023, 2024) titles, is six more than all other Academy programs combined. And, as the school's overall record includes five Mountain West championships in men's cross country (2003, 2015, 2020, 2021, 2022), the @AF_TFXC program has accounted for 18 of the Academy's 20 MW trophies.
COMING UP
The 2024 collegiate season comes to a close in two weeks, as the top 12 finishers from each event at this week's two preliminary sites travel to Eugene, Ore., for the final rounds of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on June 5-8.
Players Mentioned
Sprints
/ Track and Field
400m Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Long Jump, Triple Jump
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Javelin
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
High Jump
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Throws
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