Sam Gilman Captures MW Outdoor Athlete of the Year Honors
6/22/2022 2:01:00 PM | Track and Field
Gilman is the second Falcon in four years to sweep the MW Indoor/Outdoor Athlete awards.
COLORADO SPRINGS Colo. – The accolades keep coming for Air Force junior Sam Gilman, who was named the Mountain West Male Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year this afternoon (June 22). It is the second such conference honor for Gilman, who was also honored with the Indoor award earlier this year.
Gilman was the only Mountain West athlete to capture First-Team All-America honors on the men's side at the recent NCAA Outdoor Championships, as he used an Academy Record time of 13:30.82 to place fifth in the national meet. That time, which took a nearly a second off the prior Air Force mark, was the fastest time in the Mountain West since 2018 – and the thir
d-fastest mark in conference history.
The native of Hilton Head Island, S.C., who claimed a pair of all-conference accolades at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships to help the men to the team title, claimed first-place finishes in both of his regular season races – winning the 1500-meter run at the Jim Click Shootout in a season-best time of 3:44.06 and using a furious final sprint to beat a predominately professional field in the Elite section of the 5000-meter run at the Mt. SAC Relays – posting a (then) career-best 13:33.26 to debut at No. 2 on the program's all-time list.
Today's announcement marked the second time in four years that a Falcon has captured both track and field awards in the same year, while a member of the Air Force program has earned the annual MW honor seven times in total, as Gilman (2022 indoor, 2022 outdoor) joined Joey Uhle (2015 outdoor), Jamiel Trimble (2016 outdoor), Michael Rhoads (2019 indoor, 2019 outdoor) and Mahala Norris (2021 outdoor).
The league's Athlete of the Year award recognizes the top male and female athletes in outdoor track and field. Student-athletes are nominated and selected by the head coaches at each member institution.
Gilman was the only Mountain West athlete to capture First-Team All-America honors on the men's side at the recent NCAA Outdoor Championships, as he used an Academy Record time of 13:30.82 to place fifth in the national meet. That time, which took a nearly a second off the prior Air Force mark, was the fastest time in the Mountain West since 2018 – and the thir
d-fastest mark in conference history.
The native of Hilton Head Island, S.C., who claimed a pair of all-conference accolades at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships to help the men to the team title, claimed first-place finishes in both of his regular season races – winning the 1500-meter run at the Jim Click Shootout in a season-best time of 3:44.06 and using a furious final sprint to beat a predominately professional field in the Elite section of the 5000-meter run at the Mt. SAC Relays – posting a (then) career-best 13:33.26 to debut at No. 2 on the program's all-time list.
Today's announcement marked the second time in four years that a Falcon has captured both track and field awards in the same year, while a member of the Air Force program has earned the annual MW honor seven times in total, as Gilman (2022 indoor, 2022 outdoor) joined Joey Uhle (2015 outdoor), Jamiel Trimble (2016 outdoor), Michael Rhoads (2019 indoor, 2019 outdoor) and Mahala Norris (2021 outdoor).
The league's Athlete of the Year award recognizes the top male and female athletes in outdoor track and field. Student-athletes are nominated and selected by the head coaches at each member institution.
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