Four Falcons claim championship titles

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U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) --  Four members of the Air Force Academy’s track and field program claimed conference titles May 14 and 15 at the 2004 Mountain West Conference Outdoor Championships in Las Vegas. For the third consecutive year, the men earned a third-place finish with 161.5 points, while the women finished seventh with 50 points.

Three of the event winners were repeat champions.

Senior Ben Payne claimed his third straight 10,000-meter (6.21-mile) run title, crossing the finish line in a conference championship record time of 30 minutes, 1.96 seconds. Payne became the first Falcon to win three consecutive conference titles in the same event. It is Payne's fourth career conference title, as he also won the 5,000-meter (3.1-mile) run title during the 2002 indoor season.

Sean Temple led a trio of senior Falcons to a sweep in the 110-meter (120-yard) hurdles. Posting a time of 14.21, Temple earned the second 110-meter hurdles title of his career. It is Temple's fourth conference championship, as he won the 110-meter hurdles title in 2002 and the 60-meter (65.62-yard) hurdles title during the indoor seasons of 2003 and 2004.

Jim Campbell and Luke Marker finished second and third, wrapping up the Air Force sweep. Campbell clocked a time of 14.33, while Marker was right on his heels at 14.35. It is the second time this year the three Falcons teamed up to sweep a conference championship event. Temple, Marker and Campbell swept the top three spots in the 60-meter hurdles at the 2004 indoor championships.

This also marks the third straight year a member of the Air Force team has picked up the 110-meter hurdles conference title.

With a distance of 23 feet, 5½ inches, senior Anthony Park won his second conference outdoor long-jump championship. Park and Chris Banks teamed up for a one-two finish in the event, as Banks took second with a mark of 23-3½. Besides claiming the long jump title in 2001, Parks has also claimed two triple jump titles over his career -- 2001 outdoor and 2004 indoor.

Sophomore Dana Pounds became the second female Falcon to earn an outdoor conference title, when she posted a distance of 165-2 in the javelin. Dominating the event by nearly 20 feet, Pounds was one of three Falcons to finish within the top four. Junior Lacy DeWall finished second with a distance of 148-3, while freshman Caitie Holliday took fourth with a mark of 137-5.

Several other Falcons finished within the top five of their events. They were led by junior Paul Gensic, who finished second in the pole vault, with a career-best height of 17-9¼. Two other Falcons finished within the top five, as Makisi Haleck finished third at 16-5½, and sophomore Jason Jones took fifth, after clearing 15-7¾.

Sophomore Kory Pearson picked up second-place honors in the 400-meter (437-yard) hurdles with an NCAA qualifying time of 51.78, while Park and Banks finished second and third in the triple jump with respective marks of 50 and 49-7¾. Payne ended his conference career with a second-place finish in the 5,000-meter run, behind a time of 14:26.02, while Chris Acs finished fifth in the event, with a time of 14:33.32.

Two Falcon freshmen earned top-five honors in the men's javelin throw. Brandon Murphy placed third with a distance of 200-4 -- just 1 foot shy of second place -- while Marcus Wells finished fourth with a mark of 198.

Freshman Abe Wengel finished fifth in the men's 3,000-meter (1.86 mile) steeplechase with a time of 9:20.07, while Olivia Korte took the same spot in the women's discus, throwing a mark of 157-1. Sophomore Troy Jensen placed fifth in the 400-meter dash, with a season-best time of 47.94, while junior Nathan Franz took fifth in the 1,500-meter (0.93-mile) run, crossing the finish line in a time of 3:51.25. Senior Jason McNeal finished fifth in the hammer throw with an NCAA qualifying mark of 192-7.

Both of the Falcon relay teams posted fifth-place finishes as well. Marker, Temple, Jensen and senior Nick Bromberek clocked a season-best time of 41.43 in the 4x100-meter relay, while Jensen, Campbell, Temple and Pearson recorded a time of 3:15.96 in the 4x400-meter relay.