18 Men’s Cross Country: Senior Isaiah Bragg grabbed the team’s top finishes in four of five meets. His best finish of the season came at the Woody Greeno Invitational, where he placed third out of 308 runners to guide the Falcons to their second straight University Division team title. At the Rim Rock Classic he placed tenth; at the Mountain West Championships he placed seventh. Women’s Cross Country: Senior Jen Bremser paced the Falcons in five of six competitions last fall while accounting for two top-three finishes. Bremser was the Falcons’ top finisher at the Colorado State Open (second), Woody Greeno Invitational (third), Rim Rock Classic (ninth), Pre-Nationals (50th) and NCAA Regional Championships (32nd). Football Overall MVP: Senior Alex Means was a second-team all-conference selection after leading the Falcons in 12.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 quarterback sacks. Means was second on the team with 101 total tackles, including 55 unassisted. He tied for the team lead in interceptions with two and led the team in pass breakups with nine which ranked among the top 10 in the Mountain West. He returned an interception against New Mexico for 65 yards for his first-career touchdown to earn conference defensive player of the week honors. Football MVP, Offense: Senior running back Cody Getz was fifth in the conference and 27th nationally in rushing with a 104.0 per-game average. He had five straight 100-yard rushing games to become the only player in school history with more than two straight 100-yard games to open the season. He is only the second player in school history to have back-to-back 200-yard games. Football MVP, Defense: Senior Brian Lindsay was an honorable mention all-Mountain West selection and a first-team all-Colorado selection by the National Football Foundation, Colorado Chapter in 2012. Lindsay finished third on the team in total tackles with 92, including 47 unassisted. He also had 5.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 quarterback sacks. He finished his career third on the team in career tackles with 171, including 94 unassisted. Football MVP: Lineman/Special Teams: Senior Jason Kons helped lead the Falcons to their 15th straight conference rushing title in 2012. <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Force</strong> finished second nationally in rushing with a 316.2 per-game average and led the conference and ranked third nationally in sacks allowed with just eight all season. Kons was an honorable mention all-Mountain West selection and a first-team all-Colorado choice by the National Football Foundation, Colorado Chapter. Men’s Soccer: Senior Kevin Durr led the Falcons to their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1997 by pacing the team in scoring with 15 points. He posted team-highs of five goals and five assists and finished third in the MPSF in total shots with 59. Women’s Soccer: Junior forward Leah Bratt was named <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Force</strong> women’s soccer team MVP for the 2012 season. Bratt started 16 of 17 games for the Falcons and ranked second on the team with three goals and third with six points. The Falcons went 2-0-1 in games Bratt scored in. Water Polo: Senior Cruz Smithson was named the <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Force</strong> water polo MVP for the 2012 season. Smithson, who was named an honorable mention All-American, earned second-team All-Western Water Polo Association honors and was named the WWPA Tournament Most Valuable Player, while also earning second-team all-tournament honors at the NCAA Championship. Volleyball: Hillary Keltner became the fifth Falcon in Division I history (and the first since 2005) to record over 1,000 assists in a season, as she ended the 2012 campaign with 1,018 total helpers. In addition, Keltner led the team in hitting, as she performed at a .253 clip over the year with 113 kills. The sophomore helped the Falcons defensively, ranking second on the team with 216 digs and adding 41 total blocks. Men’s Basketball: Senior Michael Lyons earned the Bob Beckel Most Valuable Player award for the second consecutive season in 2012-13. Lyons led the Mountain West in scoring averaging 17.7 points per game and finished third in the league in field-goal percentage. He was named the most valuable player of the season-opening All-Military Classic and scored a career-high 45 points, the fifth-most ever by a Falcon in one game and the most ever scored at Clune Arena, against Colorado State. Lyons earned first-team all-conference honors, finished his career No. 4 on AFA’s all-time scoring list with 1,527 points. Women’s Basketball: Senior Alicia Leipprandt was named the <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Force</strong> women’s basketball MVP for the 2012-13 season. Leipprandt became the second Falcon in program history to earn third-team All-Mountain West honors, and averaged 13.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per contest this season. <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Force</strong>'s leading scorer in half of the Falcons' 30 games, Leipprandt closed out her career as the secondleading scorer in the program's Division I history with 1,247 points. Men’s Fencing: Freshman James Salem concluded his freshman season with a 28-6 record and was one of two freshmen to qualify and compete in the NCAA Men’s National Fencing Championships. At the NCAAs, he finished 19th in men’s epee. He qualified for the nationals with a second-place finish at the 2013 West Region Championships with a 7-2 record. Salem also traveled to Slovakia to compete in the 2012 Junior World Cup where he competed among 254 world-class fencers and finished 62nd. Women’s Fencing: Freshman Mary McElwee finished her freshman season with a 32-6 record. She finished second in the NCAA West Region Championships and went on to compete in the NCAA Women’s National Championships where she posted a 15th place finish. McElwee competed internationally during her freshman year. She traveled to Slovakia and competed in <strong>Academy</strong> Spirit WEDNESDAY, MAY <strong>29</strong>, 2013 Athletes earn 2013 ‘most valuable’ honors Junior forward Leah Bratt is the <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Force</strong> women’s soccer team MVP for the 2012 season. SARAH CHAMBERS Michael Lyons earned the Bob Beckel Most Valuable Player award for the second consecutive season in 2012-13. U.S. AIR FORCE the 2012 Junior World Cup where she finished 56th among 134 fencers in the women’s foil. Men’s Gymnastics: Gared Chapman, who claimed two USAG All-American accolades (floor exercise, still rings), set the <strong>Academy</strong> record on the vault in 2013, shattering the previous mark with a score of 15.350. The sophomore, who finished the season ranked among the nation’s top 20 in both the still rings (14.987) and vault (14.762), became the first <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Force</strong> gymnast to win a vault title at Oklahoma since at least 2006. Women’s Gymnastics: A three-time all-confer ence selection (uneven bars, balance beam, all-around), Linnaea Hance also claimed firstteam USAG All-American status on the bars, following a fifth-place finish during the individual event finals. She became the first <strong>Academy</strong> gymnast since 2004 to break the 39-point mark in the all-around competition, en route to a Gymnast of the Week citation from the MPSF. Hance, a NCAA Regional participant in the allaround for the second straight year, accounted for six first-place finishes on the year. Hockey: Senior forward Kyle De Laurell was named the team’s most valuable player. De Laurell led the team with 19 goals and 36 points. A first-team all-conference selection, he led the Atlantic Hockey Association with 17 goals in conference games and was fifth in the league with four game-winners. Not only was he an offensive force, but his +21 was the best on the team and was second best in the conference. Rifle: Sophomore Meredith Carpentier scored 588 in air rifle and 585 in smallbore against eighth-ranked Nebraska. Carpentier won the 2012 Winter <strong>Air</strong> Gun junior women’s air rifle championship and set a career-best score of 591 against Nevada-Reno. She led the Falcons in the NCAA qualifier in both air rifle and smallbore and went on to earn second-team All-American honors in both. Boxing: Drew Pineda, the Falcons’ 112-pound contender, became the 13th <strong>Academy</strong> boxer to capture four consecutive Wing Open titles. The senior team captain also claimed his third NCBA national title and his fourth NCBA All- America certificate. Pineda also concluded his career with three NCA regional titles. Men’s Swimming: Senior Matt Millikin was named <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Force</strong> men’s swimming team MVP. Millikin was AFA's top swimmer in the backstroke events. His 100 back time of 49.02 is the third-fastest mark at AFA and his 200 back time of 1:45.81 is the second-fastest in AFA history. The Pittsburgh, Pa., native earned All- Mountain Pacific Sports Federation First Team honors in the 200 back and second team honors in the 100 back. Women’s Swimming: Sophomore Kim Davis is <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Force</strong> women’s swimming & diving MVP for the 2012-13 season. Davis had one of the bestever individual seasons at the <strong>Academy</strong>, setting eight school records. Davis set school records in the 100 and 200 free, 200 & 400 individual medley, 200 breaststroke and the 400 & 800 free relay and 200 medley relay. Wrestling: Senior Cole VonOhlen was chosen as the 2012-13 <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Force</strong> wrestling team MVP, becoming the first wrestler in program history to be a four-time team MVP. In his final campaign with the Falcons, VonOhlen posted a 27-4 overall mark despite missing the bulk of the spring due to injury. He became just the third four-time NCAA qualifier in program history, finishing in the round of 12 at the NCAA Championships just two weeks after suffering a complete shoulder dislocation. Baseball: Senior catcher/outfielder Garrett Custons is the <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Force</strong> baseball MVP. After regular season play, Custons leads the Falcons in hitting (.361), hits (74), doubles (22), runs (47) and stolen bases (14). Custons is <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Force</strong>’s all-time leader in career doubles (77) and at bats (817). He was recently named one of 15 semifinalists for the Johnny Bench Award, given to college baseball’s top catcher. See Athletes Page 21
<strong>Academy</strong> Spirit WEDNESDAY, MAY <strong>29</strong>, 2013 19
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