Nash Mills and Assistant Coaches Receive Top USAG Awards
3/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
March 27, 2011
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Air Force men's gymnastics team concluded a stellar weekend at the USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Championships with a pair of USAG national awards. Nash Mills was named the Most Outstanding Senior among varsity teams, while Jeff Robinson and Chuck Schweiss were named the varsity Assistant Coach of the Year.
In the midst of a strong senior season, Mills became the sixth Air Force gymnast to ever earn the highest collegiate gymnast award from the USAG - and the fourth in the last five years. Mills capped off an impressive weekend at the USAG Championships that included a pair of individual national titles and an Academy record, while leading Air Force to its second straight national team title.
Mills posted an Academy-record score of 15.200 on the parallel bars during the event qualifying session on Friday, before successfully defending his national title on Saturday. He also picked up his first USAG title on the still rings during the individual event finals with a career-best matching score.
Robinson is in his first season with the Falcons, while Schweiss is in his third year with the program. It is the second straight year that Air Force has earned the top varsity assistant coach of the year award from USA Gymnastics, as Schweiss and former assistant Brett McClure shared the honor last year.
Springfield's Steve Posner was named the varsity head coach of the year, while Arizona State's Scott Barclay was named the club coach of the year for the 13th time in 18 years. Arizona State's Rob Survick and Evan Shaw were named the assistant coaches of the year for the club level, while Brockport's Kenny Byrd was named the club level senior gymnast of the year.
The Falcons successfully defended their national title on Friday evening, with a score of 345.700, while Mills (still rings, parallel bars), Tory Brown (vault) and James Okamoto (pommel horse) earned individual national titles on Saturday night. In addition to the event winners, Colton Wulf (floor exercise, high bar, all-around), Ben Zaiser (vault) and Matt Thorne (parallel bars) claimed USAG All-America honors.
Players Mentioned
