2008-2009 Catalog - United States Air Force Academy

years. Then head coach Joe Scott was named coach of the year while sophomore center Nick Welch earned coconference
player of the year honors, becoming the first men’s basketball player ever to earn the award.
• The fencing team has sent individuals to the NCAA fencing championships 15 consecutive years.
• The men’s basketball team earned its second NCAA tournament appearance in three years in 2006, finishing second
in the conference and posting a then-record 24 wins. The following season, the team finished third in the conference
and advanced to the National Invitational Tournament. After winning three straight NIT homes games, the team
advanced to the
• NIT Final Four and ended the season with a school-record 26 wins.
• Men’s golf has won 12 consecutive Service Academy Classic tournaments, a military academy tournament featuring
Army, Navy and Air Force.
• The ice hockey team won its first-ever conference championship in 2007, winning the Atlantic Hockey tournament
title and advancing to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.
Individual Accomplishments
• Football player Chad Hall was named the Mountain West Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year and earned
third-team All-American honors.
• Football coach Troy Calhoun was named the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year and Region 5 Coach of
the Year by the AFCA.
• Fencer Elia Burrill was named 2003 NCAA Woman of the Year for Colorado for her accomplishments on and off the
field of play.
• Men’s tennis player Shannon Buck advanced to the NCAA singles championship tournament in 2006 after a 25-2
season record and conference player of the year honor. Buck defeated the No. 3-ranked player in the country during
the regular season and finished his career with a 65-5 singles mark, a 91 percent winning mark.
• Track and field coach Ralph Lindeman is named MWC coach of the year in 2001, 2003 and 2004. He also served as
a coach on the 2004 Olympic track and field team.
• Men’s basketball player Nick Welch was named MWC co-player of the year in 2004 as a sophomore.
• Marcus Sagastume was named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation co-player of the year in 2004.
• Track and field’s Dana Pounds became the Academy’s first Division I individual All-American in 2004, earning the
honor in the javelin. Pounds would repeat with All-American honors in 2005 and 2006. She became the first female
NCAA national champion in school history in the javelin in 2005. She repeated in 2006 becoming the first back-toback
NCAA champ in school history. Pounds was named NCAA Woman of the Year for Colorado in 2005 and 2006,
becoming the first-two time winner in Academy history. In 2007, while a member of the Air Force’s World Class
Athlete program, Pounds became the American champion in the javelin.
• Volleyball player Delavane Diaz won the 2004 Mountain West Conference female athlete of the year award.
• Gymnastics coach Lou Burkel earned coach of the year honors and a special service award by the Collegiate
Gymnastics Association. Burkel retired after the 2005 season.
• Track and field’s Paul Gensic earned All-American honors in the pole vault with a third-place finish at the 2004
NCAA championships.
• Men’s swimmer Chris Knaute earned the 2007 Mountain West Conference male swimmer of the year award. The
honor was the second of Knaute’s career, as he also won it as a sophomore in 2005. He also received the MWC
senior recognition award. He closed his AF career with nine individual MWC titles.
• Wrestling coach Wayne Baughman earned the state’s distinguished American Award from the Colorado Chapter of
the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2006. The coach retired following the 2006 season with a career record of
183-134-3.
• Men’s tennis player Shannon Buck was ranked 15th nationally in 2006, the highest individual NCAA rank in school
history.
• Hockey player Brooks Turnquist earned the MWC’s scholar-athlete award in 2006. Hockey is not an MWC-sponsored
sport, but he was eligible because he attends an MWC institution.
• Junior hockey player Eric Ehn was a first-team All-American selection in 2007 while leading the Falcons to their first
NCAA tournament appearance in school history. Ehn became the first player in school history to become a finalist
for the Hobey Baker Award, given annually to the top player in the nation.
• Junior fencer Eliza Enyart became the first Academy women’s fencer to earn NCAA All-American honors in 2006.
She qualified for the NCAA tournament, where she placed 19th, becoming the West Region champion. She also
qualified in 2007, placing 19th.
• Baseball player Karl Bolt was selected in the 15th round by the Philadelphia Phillies in the Major League Baseball
draft in 2007. He is the fourth Falcon to be selected in the MLB draft.
• Air Force’s 2007 sprint medley relay team of Kellen Curry, Travis Picou, Nick Luina and Kevin Hawkins broke a 41-
year-old Academy track and field record, which was the longest standing sports record in school history. In addition,
Picou crushed a 23-year-old mark in the 60-meter hurdles. Sara Neubauer and Olivia Korte broke the school’s 23-
160 United States Air Force Academy Catalog