Track and Field Hands Out 2017 Team Awards
5/22/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – Air Force track and field head coach Ralph Lindeman and his coaching staff honored 21 Falcons during two award ceremonies at the Academy on Sunday, May 21. During the final team gatherings of the 2017 campaign, a total of 10 seniors and 11 underclassmen were recognized for their success during the season.
Eric Hoff was honored with 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 Zach Johnson was presented with the fourth 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 of 2013.
Hoff, who joined the team as a decathlete before focusing on the javelin for the final three seasons, is a two-time Mountain West Scholar-Athlete and holds strong GPA and MPA marks. He has scored for the Falcons at the last three Mountain West Outdoor Championship meets – and claimed top-five marks in the last two. Hoff, who used a career-best throw of 207'10" to move from ninth to fifth at the 2017 meet, improved his overall distance nearly 20 feet as a senior.
Johnson, a team captain for the 2016-17 squad, is the Academy record-holder in the 100-meter (10.43) and 300-meter (34.37) sprints, while holding top-four marks on the program's all-time standings in the 60-meter dash (second, 6.73), outdoor 200-meter dash (third, 20.81) and indoor 200-meter dash (fourth, 21.18). He has ran on the 4x100-meter relay that has captured the last three MW titles and posted the top-two times in the Academy record book – including the program's only sub-40 occurrences. He has also been a member of the 4x200-meter relay that posted Academy-record times to claim back-to-back titles at the Drake Relays.
Matt Dorsey and Lindy Long, who earned MVP honors during the 2016 cross country season, received the Most Competitive Athlete awards for their respective teams. Dorsey, the Academy record-holder at 1500 meters, captured All-America honors in that event at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships and was a five-time all-conference performer. Long, who became the program's first all-MW runner in the 10,000-meter run at the 2016 conference meet, is ranked among the program's top-three in the 3000-meter, 5000-meter and 10,000-meter events.
Malachi Sparling, who joined the team prior to his junior year and culminated his career with a conference title and Academy Record in the weight throw and a runner-up finish in the hammer throw, received the Most Improved Award, while Kyle Pater earned the Alonzo Babers Outstanding Performance Award for his Academy-record pole vault clearance of 18'6½" during a victory at the Mountain West Indoor Championships.
Samantha Skold, ranked fifth on the program's indoor 5000-meter run and outdoor 10,000-meter run standings, claimed the Arne Arneson Award for Dedication, while Jacob Romitti was selected by his teammates to receive the Falcon Award for Spirit and Enthusiasm. Nick Porras was named the Ernie Cunliffe Manager of the Year and Darby Maier – a 12-time scorer at the conference championships and ranked among the top-three in Academy history in both the indoor and outdoor shot put – received the Laura Piper Ironman Award.
2017 Senior Class Awards
Most Improved: Malachi Sparling
Alonzo Babers Outstanding Performance Award: Kyle Pater
Arne Arneson Award for Dedication: Samantha Skold
Falcon Award for Spirit and Enthusiasm: Jacob Romitti
Ernie Cuncliffe Manager of the Year: Nick Porras
Laura Piper Ironman Award: Darby Maier
Most Competitive Athlete | Men: Matt Dorsey
Most Competitive Athlete | Women: Lindy Long
Gen Tad Oelstrom Award for Overall Excellence: Eric Hoff
Capt David Lyon Leadership Award: Zach Johnson
In a second ceremony, prior to the Senior Night Social, the coaching staff honored their underclassmen, including juniors Jamiel Trimble and Shelley Spires, who were named the team's Most Valuable Athletes.
Trimble, in the midst of another stellar season, earned MVP honors for the second-straight year. The junior collected six Mountain West titles (five individual, one relay titles) during the 2017 season, while earning the MW Outstanding Performer Award during both the indoor and outdoor meets. He clocked Academy records in the 60-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles during the indoor season and set the MW Championship Meet Record in the 110-meter hurdles during the outdoor season. A second-team NCAA All-American in the indoor 200-meter dash, Trimble also anchored the record-setting 4x200-meter relay during the Drake Relays.
Spires, who received the women's Most Competitive Athlete award last season, claimed her first MVP honor after a record-setting season that included an All-America accolade and conference title in the indoor high jump. The junior became the program's first jumper to clear the six-foot bar in competition and currently holds the indoor and outdoor records at 6'1½". Her career-best outdoor clearance, which came during a runner-up performance at the MW Outdoor Championships, is the second-best clearance in conference history.
Sophomore Kathryn Tomczak received the Gail Conway Outstanding Performance Award for her record-setting pole vault clearance of 13'11¾" at the Air Force Team Challenge, while junior Anthony Bucci was awarded the Arne Arneson Award for Dedication. Fellow juniors Tyler Koss and Carina Gillespie were honored for their Drive and Determination, with Koss receiving the Bret Hyde Award and Gillespie earning the Callie Calhoun Award.
Sophomores Sedacy Walden and Jaci Smith were named the Most Improved Athletes of their respective teams, while junior Brooks Hardy was honored with the Paul Gensic Comeback Award. Following strong debut seasons that included the fourth-fastest men's 800-meter time (1:49.11a) and the second-fastest women's 400-meter time (53.94), freshmen Michael Rhoads and Megan Irvine were named the Newcomers of the Year.
2017 Underclassmen Awards
Most Valuable Athlete | Men: Jamiel Trimble
Most Valuable Athlete | Women: Shelley Spires
Gail Conway Outstanding Performance Award: Kathryn Tomczak
Arne Arneson Award for Dedication: Anthony Bucci
Bret Hyde Award for Drive and Determination: Tyler Koss
Callie Calhoun Award for Drive and Determination: Carina Gillespie
Most Improved | Men: Sedacy Walden
Most Improved | Women: Jaci Smith
Paul Gensic Comeback Award: Brooks Hardy
Newcomer of the Year | Men: Michael Rhoads
Newcomer of the Year | Women: Megan Irvine
The season continues this week for 28 members of the team, as Air Force earned a program-record 31 bids to the opening round of the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The three-day West Preliminary will take place May 25-27 at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.
Players Mentioned
