Thursday, February 27
Albuquerque, NM
10:00 am MT
Air Force Academy
at
Mountain West Championships
Air Force Women Have Stellar Opening Day of MW Indoors
2/27/2025 7:36:00 PM | Track and Field
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- A bronze medal from senior Ally Peterson, four of the eight scoring finishes in the 5000-meter run, and the first scoring finish in the pentathlon in nearly a decade highlighted a stellar day of competition from the Air Force women, as the track and field team opened competition at the 2025 Mountain West Indoor Championships in Albuquerque.
The women are currently in second with 22 points after the first three events of the conference meet – a tally that is just five points behind current meet leader New Mexico (27).
Peterson earned her trip to the podium after placing third in the 5000-meter run. Behind a time of 16:36.14, Peterson paced the Falcons to four of the eight scoring finishes and 15 total points. Junior India Jones finished fifth in the 21-runner event (16:44.58), while senior Halle Hamilton and sophomore Ella Johnson placed sixth (16:53.86) and seventh (16:56.50), respectively. With the adjustment of the altitude in Albuquerque, Jones moved up to seventh on the Academy's all-time standings with a 16:18.01a finish.
Sophomore Kayla Beach – the first pentathlon scorer for Air Force since Alexa Chacon in 2016 – had an impressive return to the ABQ Convention Center on Thursday, as she became the just the third Falcon in program history to surpass the 3500-point total. Adding nearly 500 points to her previous high from last year's conference meet, Beach finished seventh in the 17-athlete field with 3543 points. Freshman Sarah Reynolds also impacted the Air Force Top 10 in her pentathlon debut (14th), as she amassed 3352 points to enter the all-time standings at No. 6 and reset Chacon's Freshman Class Record.
The pair started the day off strong, with Reynolds (9.05, No. 13 at Air Force, 900 points) and Beach (9.15, No. 20 at Air Force, 875 points) both moving up the program's all-time standings in the 60-meter hurdles, Beach added a third-place, 765-point leap of 5.72 meters in the long jump – just 0.02 off her PR, while scoring 747 points in the high jump (1.61 meters), 637 points in the 800-meter run (2:34.58) and 515 points in the shot put (9.78 meters). Reynolds' best finish was a sixth-place, 712-point clearance of 1.58 meters in the high jump, while the freshman tallied 643 points in the 800-meter run (2:34.01), 598 points in the long jump (5.14 meters), and 495 points in her shot put debut (9.54 meters).
The women closed out the day with a fifth-place finish in the distance medley relay, as freshman Jasleen Sidhu and the sophomore trio of Allison Fernstrom, Rachel Fereday, and Anna Harden combined for a time of 11:46.90 – a mark that ranked fifth on the program's all-time standings (11:36.21) when adjusted for altitude – in their first race together.
The men picked up a pair of scoring finishes in the 5000-meter run on Thursday, as juniors Jayden Nats and Zach Ayers finished seventh (14:02.15) and eighth (14:03.84), respectively. The pair also led Air Force to three of the eight-fastest times in Academy history – and four of the top 16, as Nats' altitude-adjusted time of 13:39.88 is the third-fastest mark at Air Force and Ayers' 13:41.53a is ranked fifth on the program's all-time standings. Fellow junior Max Sannes finished within seconds of his classmates (ninth, 14:08.77) and moved up to No. 8 all-time at Air Force with an altitude-converted time of 13:46.35a, while sophomore Joshua Razo became the 16th Falcon in program history to rub sub-14 indoors (13:59.45a).
The distance medley relay of freshman Saketh Rudraraju, sophomore Ryan Hajek, freshman Wyatt Cernyar and senior Jason Renze finished sixth with a time of 10:06.97 (No. 24 all-time at Air Force, 9:57.79a), while freshman Brayden Richards took part in the first four events of the heptathlon. The first-year Falcon opened day with a winning, 900-point time of 6.95 in the 60-meter dash – a finish that edged his older brother (Utah State's Javin Richards) by 0.01 seconds, before finishing second in the long jump (6.81 meters, 769 points) and taking fifth-place marks in the shot put (12.54 meters, 639 points) and high jump (1.82 meters, 544 points) to finish the opening day in fourth with 2952 points.
The men are currently tied for fourth with Boise State (six points) after two events.
The 2025 Mountain West Indoor Championships continue tomorrow (Feb. 28) at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Action gets underway with the conclusion of the heptathlon at 10:00 a.m. (MT), while field events begin at 12:30 p.m., and preliminary races on the track start one hour later.
The women are currently in second with 22 points after the first three events of the conference meet – a tally that is just five points behind current meet leader New Mexico (27).
Peterson earned her trip to the podium after placing third in the 5000-meter run. Behind a time of 16:36.14, Peterson paced the Falcons to four of the eight scoring finishes and 15 total points. Junior India Jones finished fifth in the 21-runner event (16:44.58), while senior Halle Hamilton and sophomore Ella Johnson placed sixth (16:53.86) and seventh (16:56.50), respectively. With the adjustment of the altitude in Albuquerque, Jones moved up to seventh on the Academy's all-time standings with a 16:18.01a finish.
Sophomore Kayla Beach – the first pentathlon scorer for Air Force since Alexa Chacon in 2016 – had an impressive return to the ABQ Convention Center on Thursday, as she became the just the third Falcon in program history to surpass the 3500-point total. Adding nearly 500 points to her previous high from last year's conference meet, Beach finished seventh in the 17-athlete field with 3543 points. Freshman Sarah Reynolds also impacted the Air Force Top 10 in her pentathlon debut (14th), as she amassed 3352 points to enter the all-time standings at No. 6 and reset Chacon's Freshman Class Record.
The pair started the day off strong, with Reynolds (9.05, No. 13 at Air Force, 900 points) and Beach (9.15, No. 20 at Air Force, 875 points) both moving up the program's all-time standings in the 60-meter hurdles, Beach added a third-place, 765-point leap of 5.72 meters in the long jump – just 0.02 off her PR, while scoring 747 points in the high jump (1.61 meters), 637 points in the 800-meter run (2:34.58) and 515 points in the shot put (9.78 meters). Reynolds' best finish was a sixth-place, 712-point clearance of 1.58 meters in the high jump, while the freshman tallied 643 points in the 800-meter run (2:34.01), 598 points in the long jump (5.14 meters), and 495 points in her shot put debut (9.54 meters).
The women closed out the day with a fifth-place finish in the distance medley relay, as freshman Jasleen Sidhu and the sophomore trio of Allison Fernstrom, Rachel Fereday, and Anna Harden combined for a time of 11:46.90 – a mark that ranked fifth on the program's all-time standings (11:36.21) when adjusted for altitude – in their first race together.
| AIR FORCE TOP 10 MARKS |
| No. 3 – Jayden Nats, Men's 5000-Meter Run (13:39.88a) |
| No. 3 – Kayla Beach, Women's Pentathlon (3543 points) |
| No. 5 – Zach Ayers, Men's 5000-Meter Run (13:41.53a) |
| No. 5 – Women's Distance Medley Relay (11:36.21a) |
| No. 6 – Sarah Reynolds, Women's Pentathlon (3352 points) |
| No. 7 – India Jones, Women's 5000-Meter Run (16:18.01a) |
| No. 8 – Max Sannes, Men's 5000-Meter Run (13:46.33a) |
| No. 8 – Sarah Reynolds, Women's 60-Meter Hurdles (9.05) |
The men picked up a pair of scoring finishes in the 5000-meter run on Thursday, as juniors Jayden Nats and Zach Ayers finished seventh (14:02.15) and eighth (14:03.84), respectively. The pair also led Air Force to three of the eight-fastest times in Academy history – and four of the top 16, as Nats' altitude-adjusted time of 13:39.88 is the third-fastest mark at Air Force and Ayers' 13:41.53a is ranked fifth on the program's all-time standings. Fellow junior Max Sannes finished within seconds of his classmates (ninth, 14:08.77) and moved up to No. 8 all-time at Air Force with an altitude-converted time of 13:46.35a, while sophomore Joshua Razo became the 16th Falcon in program history to rub sub-14 indoors (13:59.45a).
The distance medley relay of freshman Saketh Rudraraju, sophomore Ryan Hajek, freshman Wyatt Cernyar and senior Jason Renze finished sixth with a time of 10:06.97 (No. 24 all-time at Air Force, 9:57.79a), while freshman Brayden Richards took part in the first four events of the heptathlon. The first-year Falcon opened day with a winning, 900-point time of 6.95 in the 60-meter dash – a finish that edged his older brother (Utah State's Javin Richards) by 0.01 seconds, before finishing second in the long jump (6.81 meters, 769 points) and taking fifth-place marks in the shot put (12.54 meters, 639 points) and high jump (1.82 meters, 544 points) to finish the opening day in fourth with 2952 points.
The men are currently tied for fourth with Boise State (six points) after two events.
The 2025 Mountain West Indoor Championships continue tomorrow (Feb. 28) at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Action gets underway with the conclusion of the heptathlon at 10:00 a.m. (MT), while field events begin at 12:30 p.m., and preliminary races on the track start one hour later.
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Track and Field
Heptathlon
/ Track and Field
Middle Distance, Distance
/ Track and Field
Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Steeplechase, Distance
/ Track and Field
Heptathlon
/ Track and Field
Decathlon
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
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