Falcons Open Competition at NCAA West Prelim

UPDATE TO ORIGINAL RECAP: Following the late disqualification of an automatic qualifier, Javin Bostic will now compete in the regional final of the 200-meter dash on Friday. Bostic, who initially finished 25th – just 0.03 seconds out of the advancing 24, was moved into the final as a "by time" qualifier with the DQ (revised 200-meter results).

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Although morning storms sent Day 1 of the West Prelim into Day 2, the Air Force track and field team collected a pair of top 20 regional finishes during the opening rounds of action at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on May 22-23 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The hammer throw, which boasted a program-high three Air Force representatives, took both days to complete. Originally slated for a 10:00 a.m. (CT) start on Wednesday, the event was initially moved up one hour (9:00 a.m.), in an attempt to avoid an unfavorable weather forecast. However, when the storms arrived while the first flight was warming up, the hammer throw was postponed until after the rest of the day's events had concluded – which ended up being nearly 14 hours after its scheduled start.

Junior Cooper Stroka, part of the first flight that had been warming up during the original postponement, recorded a throw of 58.30 meters (191'3") in the restart, while senior Gerrit Tamminga fouled on his three attempts during the second flight, and sophomore Texas Tanner accounted for two throws of 65.47 meters (214'9") during the third flight. Stroka, who finished 10th in the opening flight, went on to place 38th in the full field, while Tanner, who recorded his 65.47-meter measurement on back-to-back throws, finished 16th overall, as he wrapped up competition at 1:48 a.m. (CT).

In addition to the trio of hammer throwers, three more Falcons took part in West finals on Wednesday. Junior Joe Nizich claimed a top 20 finish in the javelin throw, as he recorded a distance of 66.95 meters (219'8") on his opening attempt to finish 19th in the 45-thrower field. Senior Luke Combs placed 24th in the 10,000-meter run after posting a time of 29:40.60, while classmate Brandon Lindner recorded a distance of 6.78 meters (22'3") to finish 46th in the long jump.

Several first round races were also contested this evening, with junior Darek Hackett advancing to Friday's regional final of the 400-meter hurdles. Diving across the finish line in 50.61, Hackett secured the final Auto Qualifying spot for his heat. Overall, Hackett's time was ninth in the 48-athlete first-round field.

Also in qualifying, junior Javin Bostic narrowly missed a spot in the West's 200-meter final, as his 25th-place time of 20.82 was just 0.03 seconds out of the final qualifying spot. The junior also clocked a 10.56 to finish 37th in the opening round of the 100-meter dash, while classmate Cameron Brier placed 38th in the 400-meter hurdles (52.71) and senior Sean Masion finished 46th in the 1500-meter run (3:49.71).

The women kick off their first day of preliminary competition tomorrow (May 23), when sophomore India Jones competes in the 10,000-meter run. Due to another forecast of storms in the evening, all of Thursday's running events have been moved up three hours, putting Jones' 10K start at 6:10 p.m. (CT).

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Players Mentioned

Javin Bostic

Luke Combs

Darek Hackett

India Jones

Brandon Lindner

Joe Nizich

Cooper Stroka

Gerrit Tamminga

Texas Tanner

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