Track and Field Seniors Honored at Final Banquet
5/30/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
May 30, 2016
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – Hannah Everson was named the women's MVP for the second straight year, as the Air Force track and field team honored the Class of 2016 during the program's seventh-annual Senior Night Awards on Monday, May 30. During the Falcons' final team gathering of the season, the coaching staff honored its 19 seniors and handed out 10 program awards.
Everson, the USTFCCCA Mountain Region Female Indoor Runner of the Year, became the first runner in Academy history to receive indoor All-America honors at the Division I level, as she earned first-team status following a seventh-place finish in the 5000-meter run at the 2016 NCAA Indoor Championships. The senior continued to rewrite the Academy record book, as she broke her own program standards in the indoor 3000-meter (9:18.68, adjusted for altitude), indoor 5000-meter (15:53.64) and outdoor 10,000-meter (33:05.26) events. Everson, who debuted on the Mountain West's all-time list in the 5000-meter run (third) and 10,000-meter run (third), became just the second Academy runner to earn a conference title in a running event, as she clocked the second-fastest 3000-meter time in MW Championship Meet history (9:32.79) to win the title in late February. In addition, she qualified to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 10,000-meter run for the second straight year.
Everson was also honored with the Gail Conway Outstanding Performance Award for her Academy-record performance of 33:05.26 in the 10,000-meter run at the Stanford Invitational. Finishing third amongst collegiate competitors, she posted the third-fastest time in the NCAA, while breaking her previous mark and the program's 25-year-old Senior Class Record by more than a minute.
Dylan Bell was named the men's Most Outstanding Competitor after a stellar senior campaign that included two conference titles, an indoor Academy record and appearances at both the indoor and outdoor national championships. Bell, who cleared the 18-foot bar four times this year, set a new Air Force indoor record with a height of 18'2¾" at the Air Force Team Challenge – a clearance that is ranked second on the Mountain West's all-time list. The senior also cleared an outdoor-best mark of 18'2½" to move into second on the Academy's all-time list and third in the conference's history books. Bell picked up seven first-place finishes, while placing among the top-three 12 times. The winner of the MW Indoor title (17'9"), Bell debuted in third on the MW Outdoor Championship Meet Records with a winning clearance of 18'0½" – pacing the Falcons to a sweep of the top-two places during each meet. With four MW Athlete of the Week awards this year, Bell matched the Academy record with eight in his career.
Patrick Corona received the Gen Tad Oelstrom Award for Overall Excellence, which goes to the one member of the senior class that excels athletically, academically and militarily, while Grant Hamilton was presented with the third Capt David Lyon Leadership Award, which was created in honor of Capt David Lyon, a 2008 Academy graduate and member of the Falcons' track and field team, who was killed in action in December 2013.
Corona, a second-team All-American in the 3000-meter run (ninth) at the NCAA Indoor Championships, set four Academy records this season and qualified to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. He became the first runner in program history to break the four-minute mark in the mile during the indoor season, as he won the Air Force Invitational in 3:59.77 (adjusted) for altitude). He also set a new program standard in the 3000-meter run (7:50.60) during the indoor season, while posting Academy records in the mile (4:00.51) and 5000-meter run (13:37.24) outdoors. Corona, who tied with Bell for the most career MW Athlete of the Week awards (eight) following a four-award season in 2016, won the 3000-meter title at the Mountain West Indoor Championships and finished second in his first-ever 10,000-meter race at the MW Outdoor Championship meet.
Hamilton, a leader both in and out of the throwing circle, capped a stellar collegiate campaign with Academy records in both the shot put and discus throw at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships. The senior, the only Air Force thrower to ever record over 60 feet in the shot put, reset his own Academy outdoor record with a throw of 61'2¼" to take second at the conference meet. Hamilton collected the ninth all-conference accolade of his career the following day, when he finished second in the discus throw with an Academy-record heave of 187'5" – adding nearly four feet to the previous standard that was initially set in 1993. A 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-District selection, Hamilton concluded his career with three conference titles and three Academy records.
Spencer Baldwin was honored with the Arne Arneson Coaches' Award for Dedication, while Angelea Ross received the Callie Calhoun Award for Drive and Determination. Baldwin, who holds the program record in the weight throw at 63'0" (2015), registered the third-best hammer throw in Academy history (199'5") to finish third at the MW Outdoor Championships. With that distance, Baldwin became the program's first all-conference selection in that event since 2013. In addition, he finished within the top-three of the hammer or discus four times during the outdoor season and qualified to the NCAA West Preliminary in the hammer. Ross became just the second Air Force woman to break the 40-foot mark in the triple jump, as she registered a distance of 40'3½" – the second-best jump in program history – at the Air Force Invitational. She earned all-conference honors with a third-place finish at the MW Indoor Championships (39'10¾"), before injury hampered her outdoor season. Despite competing just three times in the second half of the season, Ross came back to score for the Falcons at the MW Outdoor Championships, registering a mark of 38'8¾" to finish eighth.
Naomi Alston and Grant Caswell shared the program's Paul Gensic Award for Perseverance. Alston, a finalist in the 400-meter dash at the MW Outdoor Championships, posted four top-10 times during the second half of the season, as she clocked the sixth-fastest 400-meter time (55.91) and the seventh-fastest 200-meter time (25.37), while running on the third-fastest distance medley relay (11:32.88) and the sixth-fastest 4x400-meter relay (3:50.19). Caswell anchored the program's 4x800-meter relay that posted the second-fastest time in Academy history (7:29.14), while running the 800-meter leg of the distance medley relay that won the Drake Relays. After recording a team-leading 800-meter time of 1:50.92 (adjusted for altitude) to win the Air Force Twilight Open, Caswell finished sixth in that event at the MW Outdoor Championships. During the indoor season, he ran on the second-fastest DMR in Academy history, while finishing sixth in the 800-meter run at the conference meet.
Laina McCroskey was honored as the Riley Feeney Manager of the Year, while Alston, Corona, Hamilton and Riley Vann were named honorary team captains.
The seniors graduate from the Academy on Thursday, June 2, earning commission as second lieutenants in the U.S. Air Force. Bell, Corona, Everson and classmate Gavin McHenry officially close out the collegiate season next week (June 8-11), when they travel to Eugene, Ore., for the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
2016 Awards for Seniors
Most Valuable Athlete | Women: Hannah Everson
Most Outstanding Competitor | Men: Dylan Bell
Gen Tad Oelstrom Award for Overall Excellence: Patrick Corona
Capt David Lyon Award for Leadership: Grant Hamilton
Arne Arneson Award for Dedication: Spencer Baldwin
Callie Calhoun Award for Drive and Determination: Angelea Ross
Paul Gensic Award for Perseverance: Naomi Alston, Grant Caswell
Gail Conway Outstanding Performance Award: Hannah Everson
Riley Feeney Manager of the Year: Laina McCroskey
Honorary Team Captains: Naomi Alston, Patrick Corona, Grant Hamilton, Riley Vann
