Air Force athletics recognizes Top 6 Award winners
5/21/2018 12:00:00 AM | General
Air Force athletics recognized several cadet-athletes for their accomplishments during the 2017-18 season at the Academy's annual awards ceremony. Senior track and field standouts Shelley Spires and Jamiel Trimble took home female and male most valuable athlete honors, respectively, while senior swimmer Jinan Andrews was named scholar-athlete of the year. Senior hockey player Dylan Abood earned the athletic leadership award, senioR Boxer Den Tati-Mackaya earned the athletic excellence award and senior soccer player Oscar Chacon won the athletic achievement award.
Spires is a three-time All-American selection which ties as the most in program history. She has twice been named the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Mountain Region Female Field Athlete of the Year. Spires is a three-time Mountain West champion, including this season's indoor champion. She is the Academy record holder in the high jump foR Both indoor and outdoor track at 6-1½ and is the lone athlete in school history to break the six-foot bar in either season. She is also a two-time selection to the USTFCCCA all-academic team and three-time academic all-Mountain West selection. She is the Academy's nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
Trimble is a four-time All-American and the school's lone honoree in the 200-meters and 100-meter high hurdles, earning the honor twice in each event. He is a three-time Mountain West Championships Outstanding Performer Award winner and is the first male track athlete in program history to earn U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Mountain Region Athlete of the Year honors. Timble has earned all-Mountain West honors 14 times and is a 10-time Mountain West individual champion. His 10 MW individual titles are the second-most in conference history and his 13 total MW titles, including relays, are the most in men's conference history. He is the Academy record-holder in five events.
Andrews is a systems electrical engineering major with a 3.71 grade point average and ranks 22nd in the senior class of over 1,000. A team captain, Andrews earned the Mountain West Senior Recognition Award in 2018 and is a four-time conference scholar-athlete award winner. Andrews has earned the Colorado Engineering Council Award, the Thomas Moore Engineering Award, is an Olmsted Scholarship recipient and was named Academic All-America in 2018. She earned all-Mountain West honors in the 100 freestyle twice and holds three Academy records.
Abood helped the Air Force hockey team to its second straight Atlantic Hockey championship and NCAA Elite Eight appearance this season. He earned the hockey program's Vic Heyliger Award which recognizes character, dedication and leadership, as well as the Cronk Award for most inspirational and was named the team's top scholar-athlete anD best defenseman. Abood has a 3.85 grade point average and was recognized nationally with the Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award which is given annually to the player who displays exemplary sportsmanship, is supremely competitive, intelligent and extraordinarily conditioned with an unmatched work ethic.
Tati-Mackaya is a three-time Wing Open boxing champion and won the 2018 National Collegiate Boxing Association national championship at 195 pounds this season. The team's captain this season, Tati-Mackaya is a three-time NABC All-American and a Chuck Davey Boxing Classic and Arthur Mercante Invitational champion.
Chacon helped lead the Falcons to a 14-1-3 record, the program's first-ever regular season conference championship and a berth into the NCAA tournament this season. He earned All-American honors, all-West region honors and was a first-team all-conference selection. Chacon is a two-time academic all-conference selection and is a member of the superintendent's list at the Academy for academic, military and athletic excellence.
Players Mentioned
