Kip Simons Earns National Coach of the Year Honors
5/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
May 10, 2010
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - Air Force men's gymnastics head coach Kip Simons collected his third coaching award of the year, as the College Gymnastics Association announced its final winners for the 2010 season. Simons, who had already received the USAG Varsity Head Coach of the Year and the NCAA West Region Head Coach of the Year, was honored as the CGA/Collegiate Division National Head Coach of the Year.
Simons has been instrumental in the success of the Falcons' climb into national prominence. The 2010 Air Force squad, which claimed their first-ever USAG National Championship, accounted for five of the top six team scores in program history (and seven of the top 10), including a program-best mark of 346.450.
This season, in addition to winning the program's first USAG title, Air Force sent a program-record nine gymnasts to the NCAA National Championships, saw three individual and all seven team records fall, had three gymnasts ranked among the nation's top-20 in the rankings prior to the championships and sent three gymnasts to compete at the prestigious Winter Cup Challenge - equaling the number of Falcons that had competed in that meet over the last 20 years.
It has been an award-filled season for the Falcons' coaching staff. In addition to Simons' three awards for coaching excellence, he was selected as a member of the 2010 USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Brett McClure was named the NCAA West Region Coach of the Year and shared the USAG Assistant Coach of the Year award with Lt Col Chuck Schweiss.
