Track and field: Air Force opens competition

  • Published
  • By Valerie Perkin
  • U.S. Air Force Academy
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AFNEWS) --  The U.S. Air Force Academy track and field team opened competition at the Mountain West Conference Championships here Feb. 21. 

Backed by a pair of runner-up finishes in the four heptathlon events that were contested, senior Brian Walsh is currently in third place with 3,029 points.

Walsh, the defending heptathlon champion, finished second in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.09 seconds, while completing a distance of 23 feet 3 ½ inches in the long jump. In addition, he cleared a season-best 6-2 ¼ in the high jump to finish fifth and threw 40-11 in the shot put to take sixth.

Sophomore Skylar Morgan and junior Matt Gensic currently sit in seventh and 10th place, respectively, in the heptathlon. Morgan used a third-place high jump mark of 6-3 ½ to tally 2699 points, while Gensic has posted 2491 points. Morgan also took sixth in the long jump (21-1 ½), seventh in the shot put (37-1 ¼) and eighth in the 60 with a time of 7.48. Gensic's top finish was an eighth-place high jump mark of 6 feet, while also taking a pair of ninth-place finishes in the long jump (20-2 ½) and shot put (35-1) and a 10th-place time in the 60 at 7.57.

With just the combined events being contested Feb. 22, the women's heptathlon was the only event completed. Lindsay Bengard, Air Force's lone competitor, finished 16th with a career-best 2719 points. That total improves her eighth-place standing on the academy's all-time list. Bengard's top finish of the day was a 12th-place height of 5 ¼ in the high jump.

She also clocked times of 9.72 in the 60 hurdles and 3:07.50 in the 800, while tallying marks of 15-10 ½ in the long jump and 30-6 ¼ in the shot put.

Heptathlon action concludes Feb. 23 with the 60 hurdles, pole vault and 1000. The individual events of the MWC Championships are slated to begin 1 p.m., with the women's weight throw and men's long jump. All action takes place at the Albuquerque Convention Center. 

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