Track and Field: Falcons conclude regular season with twilight meet

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Three incursions into the Academy's all-time record book highlighted the afternoon, as the Air Force track and field team hosted the annual Ris Westen-Air Force Twilight Meet May 4 at the Academy. The Falcons claimed 15 event titles in their final competition of the regular season.

The 4x100-meter relay team of Nick Luina, Travis Picou, John Payne and Kellen Curry clocked 40.70 to win the race and account for the fourth-best time in Academy history. Freshman Dan Paladino recorded a distance of 188'4" in the hammer throw to win that event. Recording a freshman class record, Paladino improved his personal-record by nearly five feet while moving into fifth on the Academy's all-time list.

Freshman Sara Neubauer moved into third on the conference's all-time list in the discus throw with a second-place throw of 156'10".

In addition to the victories by the relay team and Paladino, sophomore Kellen Curry clocked 14.98 to win the 110-meter hurdles, while classmate Kyle Jones led an Air Force sweep of the top spots in the 1,500-meter run, as he crossed the finish line in a time of 4:10.77. Junior Kevin Hawkins took first in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:51.77, while classmate John Payne won the 400-meter hurdles in 54.19.

Sophomore Scott Balcao clocked a time of 10:47.74 to place first in the 3,000-meter run. Air Force swept the relays, as freshman Andy Schweitzer, junior Matt Gensic, freshman John Oliphint and junior Kyle Meakins teamed up to win the 4x400-meter relay in 3:29.46. From the field, junior Devin Hart won the long jump with a distance of 23'0½' and freshman Dane Jansson was the top collegiate in the shot put at 42'8".

On the women's senior Ayana Floyd-James clocked the fastest time in the 100-meter dash, winning the event with a time of 12.67. Senior Dawn Higginbotham cleared 5'3" to tie for first in the high jump, while freshman Melissa Beerse took first in the pole vault with a 12'0¾". Freshman Sara Neubauer threw 47'11¾" in the shot put to win that event and classmate Katie Weber took first in the javelin with a distance of 135'11". Senior Olivia Korte, who was the top collegiate finisher in the hammer throw (159'7"), won the discus throw with a toss of 158'4".

Air Force heads to San Diego, Calif., for the 2007 Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships May 9-12. Action begins at the SDSU Sports Deck, with the first few events of the heptathlon and decathlon.

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