Photo by: Sean O'Sullivan, Wyoming
Falcons Place 22 on Academic All-Conference List
2/27/2019 4:57:00 PM | Cross Country
Cross country collected the most honors of any sport at the Academy during the 2018 fall season.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A program-record 22 members of the Air Force cross country team earned academic all-conference honors, the Mountain West office announced this afternoon (Feb. 27). Represented by 12 men and 10 women, the combined cross country squad collected the most honors of any sport at the Academy during the 2018 fall season.
With a 3.42 GPA in astronautical engineering, senior All-American Jaci Smith became the 17th cross country runner in program history to earn academic all-conference honors all four years.
Classmates Mickey Davey (3.47, electrical engineering) and Nathan Thomas (3.31, civil engineering), as well as junior Lindsey Blanks (3.86, operations research), collected their third academic honor from the Mountain West, while senior Shanna Burns (3.12, civil engineering) and junior Swathi Samuel (3.83, operations research) earned their second.
Sixteen Falcons, including senior newcomer Erik McMillan (3.72, applied mathematics) and junior Justin Weber (3.81, geospatial sciences), earned their first academic all-MW honor from the conference. The list squads' list of first-time academic award winners also includes sophomores Hunter Boyer (3.74, aeronautical engineering), Colin Dwyer (3.59, geospatial sciences), Scott Johnson (3.60, operations research) and Alec Schrank (3.20, operations research), as well as freshmen Andi Almodovar (3.01), Sarah Deresky (3.52), Mikayla Gallagher (Academy-high 3.94, astronautical engineering), Sydney Hansen (3.90), Ryan Ioanidis (3.12), Jenna Kill (3.88), Will Kitzhaber (3.60), Luke Nolley (3.45), Adrianna Wilder (3.24) and Matt Zacharias (3.31).
A conference-record 703 student-athletes were named to the fall's academic all-conference team. Fall sports include men's and women's cross country, football, women's soccer and volleyball. To be eligible, student-athletes must have completed at least one academic term at the member institution, while maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better, and be a significant contributor on their athletic team.
With a 3.42 GPA in astronautical engineering, senior All-American Jaci Smith became the 17th cross country runner in program history to earn academic all-conference honors all four years.
Classmates Mickey Davey (3.47, electrical engineering) and Nathan Thomas (3.31, civil engineering), as well as junior Lindsey Blanks (3.86, operations research), collected their third academic honor from the Mountain West, while senior Shanna Burns (3.12, civil engineering) and junior Swathi Samuel (3.83, operations research) earned their second.
Sixteen Falcons, including senior newcomer Erik McMillan (3.72, applied mathematics) and junior Justin Weber (3.81, geospatial sciences), earned their first academic all-MW honor from the conference. The list squads' list of first-time academic award winners also includes sophomores Hunter Boyer (3.74, aeronautical engineering), Colin Dwyer (3.59, geospatial sciences), Scott Johnson (3.60, operations research) and Alec Schrank (3.20, operations research), as well as freshmen Andi Almodovar (3.01), Sarah Deresky (3.52), Mikayla Gallagher (Academy-high 3.94, astronautical engineering), Sydney Hansen (3.90), Ryan Ioanidis (3.12), Jenna Kill (3.88), Will Kitzhaber (3.60), Luke Nolley (3.45), Adrianna Wilder (3.24) and Matt Zacharias (3.31).
A conference-record 703 student-athletes were named to the fall's academic all-conference team. Fall sports include men's and women's cross country, football, women's soccer and volleyball. To be eligible, student-athletes must have completed at least one academic term at the member institution, while maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better, and be a significant contributor on their athletic team.
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