Track and field: Men's team wins invitational

  • Published
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AFNEWS) --  Backed by one winner and 18 scoring finishers, the Air Force men's track and field team held off host New Mexico to win the TCR Race Productions Invitational Feb. 10 in Albuquerque.

With 135 total points, the Falcons won their second straight invitational as New Mexico finished second with 131 points.

Junior Travis Picou was the lone Air Force winner, clocking a time of 21.39 seconds in the 200-meter dash. Picou also claimed a second-place mark in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.86.

The mile provided 20 points toward the Falcons' cause. Sophomore Daniel Castle was the event runner-up with a time of 4:28.19, while classmate Justin Mason finished fourth with a 4:31.43 time. Freshmen Arthur Grijalva and Austin Fritzke placed fifth (4:36.73) and sixth (4:51.21), respectively, in the Falcons' impressive claim on four of the top six spots.

Senior Nick Luina crossed the finish line of the 400 in 48.51 to take third, while junior Troy Jensen placed eighth with a time of 49.35. In addition, the two were the bookends of the 4x400 relay team that placed seventh. Juniors John Payne and Kyle Meakins joined Jensen and Luina for a time of 3:23.40

Freshmen Andy Schweitzer and John Oliphint picked up top-four finishes in the 800, as Schweitzer ran 1:57.86 to place third and Oliphint clocked 1:58.59 to finish fourth. The Falcons also received a pair of top-four finishes in the triple jump, as freshman Brent Byrd (45 feet 1/2 inch) and junior Devin Hart (43 11 1/4) placed third and fourth, respectively.

Freshman Ryan Workman placed fourth in the 5000 (16:08.33), while classmate Nick Frawley earned the same placing in the pole vault. In that event, Frawley cleared a career-best 16 11 1/2, which is fifth on the academy's all-time list.

Sophomore Kellen Curry took sixth in the 60 hurdles behind a time of 8.45, while freshman Kevin Goldsmith cleared 5 11 1/4 to finish seventh in the high jump.

On the women's side, Air Force finished seventh with 22 points. Five different Falcons scored for the women today, backed by a pair of top-10 finishes in the shot put. Freshman Sara Neubauer recorded a distance of 46 feet 8 inches to place fourth in the event, while senior Olivia Korte, who also earned points for Air Force last night in the weight throw, threw 40 feet 9 3/4 inches to finish 10th.

Junior Kate Papenberg placed fifth in the 5000 with a time of 20:12.38, while senior Dierra Poland clocked 9.12 in the 60 hurdles to finish sixth. Classmate Casey Johnson rounded out the Air Force scorers with a seventh-place finish in the triple jump (37 8 1/2).

Air Force next travels to Laramie, Wyo., for the Robert Shine Invitational Feb. 16. The meet is the Falcons' final tune-up before the Mountain West Conference Championships.

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