2008-2009 Catalog - United States Air Force Academy

“I’m a lucky man... I’m no hero... Things just worked out. I’d been in situations like that in Falcon Stadium.”
—Captain Scott Thomas,
F-16 pilot in Operation Desert Storm and Falcon Football Alumnus
The men and women compete in Division I of the NCAA. Most sports are members of the Mountain West Conference
comprised of Air Force, Brigham Young University, Colorado State University, New Mexico, San Diego State, Texas Christian
University, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Utah and Wyoming. In the past thirty-three years, the football team has claimed the
Commander-in-Chief’s trophy sixteen times.
Some other intercollegiate highlights include:
Academics and Athletics
• Cadet-athletes have earned 66 NCAA post-graduate scholarships, the second most nationally in Division I athletics.
• Cadet-athletes have earned 10 Rhodes Scholarships, the most recent being Delavane Diaz in volleyball in 2004.
• The football team has won 13 National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame scholarships.
• Cadet-athletes have earned more than $300,000 in post-graduate scholarships in the last 15 years.
• Air Force has had six athletes inducted into the Academic All-American Hall of Fame, more than any other school
in the country. Athletes inducted include: Brock Strom (football), Rich Mayo (football), Michelle Johnson (women’s
basketball), Chad Hennings (football), Chris Howard (football) and Lance Pilch (baseball).
• The women’s cross country team earned NCAA Academic All-American team honors in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and
2006.
• 88 athletes earned Academic All-Mountain West Conference honors in 2007.
• Collectively, there have been 133 cadet-athletes earn CoSIDA and Coaches Academic All-American honors a total of
181 times.
Inside the Numbers
• The Academy has produced 169 individual national champions, the most recent being fencer Seth Kelsey in the epee
in 2003 and track and field star Dana Pounds in the javelin in 2005 and 2006.
• The Academy has had 552 individual athletes achieve athletic All-American status a total of 1,213 times. Over 175
individuals have earned NCBA All-American honors in boxing a total of 265 times since 1979.
• The Academy has produced five consensus football All-Americans. They include: Brock Strom (1959), Ernie Jennings
(1970), Scott Thomas (1985), Chad Hennings (1987) and Carlton McDonald (1992).
• Chad Hennings was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006, joining Brock Strom from the
Academy.
• Women’s swimming has produced 70 individual All-Americans a total of 404 times in both Division I and II
competition since 1970.
• Men’s swimmer Chris Knaute has won nine MWC titles which is tied for the most by an athlete in the conference’s
history.
Team Accomplishments
• The hockey team won its second straight Atlantic Hockey Association championship and qualified for the NCAA
Championships for the second straight year. The hockey team is the first in school history to win consecutive
outright conference titles.
• The men’s cross-country team won the 2003 MWC title. They went on to finish third in the region and eighth in the
nation.
• Wrestler Kevin Hoy earned All-American honors while posting a runner-up finish in the heavyweight division at the
NCAA championships.
• The women’s cross-country team finished third in the MWC for the fifth straight year in 2004.
• Football returned to its winning ways, posting a 9-4 record and earning a trip to the Armed Forces Bowl vs
California. Air Force finished second in the MWC with a school record 6-2 mark. AF improved five games from
2006, the nation’s third best turnaround.
• The boxing team earned its sixth consecutive National Collegiate Boxing Association national championship in 2004
and has never finished lower than second in 28 years.
• Women’s tennis won five consecutive Gideon Cups titles (dual meet vs. service academy rival Army) from 2000-
2004.
• The volleyball team defeated both Army and Navy in 2003 and earned its best record in five years.
• Men’s basketball won its first conference championship in 2004, finishing 12-2 in conference play after being picked
to finish eighth. The team won a then-school record 22 games and advanced to its first NCAA tournament in 42
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