Air Force Picks Up Wins Over Colorado School of Mines, Metro State

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, October 13. THE Air Force men's and women's swimming and diving teams opened their dual schedule Saturday at the Air Force Invitational, which featured five men's teams and nine women's teams. The men and women's teams each went 2-1 in their officially scored dual meets. The men picked up wins over Colorado School of Mines (203-40) and Metro State (192-38), while falling to Denver, 131-110. The women also defeated Colorado School of Mines (174-63) and Metro State (176-46), but fell to Boise State, 159-83.

Senior T.J. Cowling (Newport News, Va.) led the Air Force men with wins in each of his events. Cowling registered a time of 21.14 in the 50 freestyle to take first place, while teammates Justin Day (Jr., Peyton, Colo.) and Stephen Grace (So., Cincinnati, Ohio) finished third and fourth, respectively. Cowling's time of 46.77 was good for first place in the 100 free, while Grace and Robert Dawson (Fr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) came in third and fifth, respectively, in the race.

The Falcons captured the top two spots in the 1000 free, with Sean O'Keefe (So., Lake Oswego, Ore.) winning with a time of 10:07.59, followed by teammate Tom Hansen (Fr., Berkeley Heights, N.J.) in second place at 10:13.33. Meanwhile, in the 500 free, O'Keefe finished third, while Hansen took fifth place.

Day added another win for Air Force in the 100 breaststroke, registering a time of 57.78, while Chris Morin (Jr., Crown Point, Ind.) and Josh Hammervold (Fr., Sugar Land, Texas) finished fourth and fifth, respectively. The Falcons also won the 200 freestyle relay, as Dawson, Bryan Avery (Jr., Mililani, Hawaii), Kai Yamashiro (Jr., Kaneohe, Hawaii) and Cowling combined for a time of 1:25.44.

In the 200 free, Air Force took three of the top five spots, led by Avery in second place at 1:43.75, while freshmen Benjamin Gunn (Gainesville, Ga.) and Eric Robinson (Lakewood, Colo.) finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Avery also took third place in the 100 butterfly, registering a time of 51.67, while Morin finished fifth in the fly. In addition, Yamashiro grabbed a pair of second-place finishes, clocking in at 1:58.47 in the 200 IM and 52.58 in the 100 backstroke.

For the divers, Kyle Van Valkenburg (So., Tucson, Ariz.) led Air Force with a second-place finish in the 3-meter event and a third-place showing at 1-meter.

"I thought we raced very well for the first meet of the season," said men's head coach Rob Clayton. "We have some very promising young guys, and our veterans did a great job today, especially T.J. (Cowling). We have a long season ahead, and this was a great start for us."

On the women's side, diver Danielle Dowds (Sr., Huntington Beach, Calif.) led the Falcons, winning both the 1- and 3-meter diving events. Meanwhile, Ashleigh Peck (Jr., Beaver Falls, Pa.) took second at 3-meters, while Chelsea Tompkins (So., Grand Junction, Colo.) finished third at 3-meters.

Junior Jane Hwang (Irvine, Calif.) posted a second-place finish in the 200 freestyle, registering a time of 1:57.37. Meanwhile, several Air Force freshmen had solid debuts, led by Jessica Rodgers, who took fourth place in the 100 butterfly (1:00.03). Kaeli Kluesner (Fr., Denver, Colo.) finished fifth in the 200 IM with a time of 2:17.64 and sixth in the 500 free at 5:35.25, while Esther Kim (Fr., Huntington Beach, Calif.) clocked in at 26.13 in the 50 free to take sixth place.

The Falcons return to action next weekend, Oct. 19-20, at the Early Bird Invitational, hosted by Colorado State.

Special thanks to Air Force for contributing this report.

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