Falcons Claim Four Field Titles at Colorado Invitational

Backed by four event titles and 13 additional top-five finishes, members of the Air Force field event squad wrapped up the opening day of competition at the Colorado Invitational this afternoon (Jan. 23) in Boulder.

Air Force opened the day with three-straight event titles, as freshman Chris Atunku, classmate Julie Segroves and senior Texas Tanner captured first-place finishes in the first three events to go final on Friday. Atunku cleared 1.91 meters (6'3¼") to open the day with a win in the high jump, while Segroves earned her third win in as many collegiate meets with a height of 3.80 meters (12'5½") in the pole vault. Tanner completed the early event sweep with a winning 18.79-meter (61'7¾") throw in the shot put.

Segroves paced junior Karli Neff (3.65m, 11'11¾"), sophomore Barrett Boyd (3.50m, 11'5¾"), and senior Nathalia Veal (3.50m, 11'5¾") to a 1-2-3-4 sweep in the Falcon-heavy pole vault competition, while Atunku and Tanner led Air Force to a pair of top-four finishes. Junior Wyatt Curl registered a clearance of 1.85 meters (6'1¼") to finish fourth in the high jump, while sophomore Mitchell Blakeslee earned the same placement in the shot put following a season-best throw of 15.61 meters (51'2¾").

The women earned their second event title to close out the first half of the day, as sophomore Alese Banks won the long jump with a distance of 5.50 meters (18'0½"). Banks, who won the 11-jumper event on her first attempt, paced the Falcons to four of the top-five finishes. Junior Kayla Beach finished second with a 5.41-meter (17'9") leap on her first attempt, while the sophomore duo of Sarah Reynolds and Ryan McFadden rounded out the quartet by placing fourth (5.31m, 17'5¼") and fifth (5.11m, 16'9¼"), respectively.

In addition, freshman Zoe Heizer was the top collegiate finisher in the high jump, after matching her career high of 1.66 meters (5'5¼"). Perfect on first-attempt clearances over four bars, Heizer placed second in the 10-jumper field and led Air Force to three of the top five finishes. Beach matched her career-high of 1.61 meters (5'3¼") to finish second, while Reynolds cleared 1.56 meters (5'1¼") in her season high jump debut to finish fifth.

Elsewhere at the Ford Indoor Practice Facility, freshman pole vaulter Max McFarlane finished second among the collegiate field – and third overall – after recording a clearance of 5.00 meters (16'4¾") and junior Paige Birch rounded out the Falcons' list of top-five finishers, as she recorded a fifth-place distance of 16.48 meters (54'1") in the weight throw.

The Falcons return to action tomorrow (Jan. 24), when the runners head to Boulder for the second day of competition at the Colorado Invitational.

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