Air Force Academy junior Kayla Beach set a new school record in the pentathlon at the DeLoss Dodds Invitational in Manhattan, Kansas, on January 30. Beach scored 3,594 points, surpassing the previous program record that had stood for 21 years.
Beach’s performance included three personal bests. She ran the 60-meter hurdles in 9.04 seconds, earning 902 points and marking the 15th-fastest time in Academy history. In the high jump, she cleared 1.63 meters for a career-best and placed herself at No. 24 on the program’s all-time list. Her finish of 2:28.45 in the 800-meter run was also a personal best.
In addition to her results in those events, Beach earned 738 points with a long jump of 5.63 meters and participated in her first shot put competition of the year with a throw of 9.10 meters.
With this achievement, Beach becomes the first Air Force athlete since Diane Elwer in 1981 to hold both indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon records at the Academy.
Sophomore Sarah Reynolds also made an impact by recording a personal-best score of 3,484 points in the pentathlon—the fourth-highest total in school history. Reynolds achieved career-best times in both the 800-meter run (2:25.79) and the 60-meter hurdles (9.01), improving her standing on Air Force’s all-time lists.
Other notable performances included junior Karli Neff improving her pole vault mark to a career-best clearance of 3.77 meters, which placed her sixth overall and solidified her position at No. 21 on Air Force’s all-time list for that event.
Three sprinters—junior Allison Fernstrom (25.58), sophomore Ella Pears (25.80), and freshman Amaya Stepp (25.72)—posted top-25 times for Air Force in the women’s 200-meter dash.
On the men’s side, senior Jettason Rose won the men’s 200-meter dash with a time of 21.29 seconds as Air Force secured three spots among the top eight finishers out of nineteen competitors.
The Falcons will continue competition at Cliff Rovelto Indoor Track on January 31 for the final day of action at this year’s DeLoss Dodds Invitational.
