Left: Alonzo Babers won two gold medals at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Gregg Popovich ’70 was named NBA coach of the year for the third time in 2014.
No Academy program has had a more successful run of NCAA participation than the ice hockey teams of the past few years.
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ence. The wrestling team was the first Academy team to win an outright conference title, doing so in 1990-1991. The football team shared titles in 1985 and 1995, then won outright in 1998. Unfortunately, the WAC’s gradual expansion to sixteen teams threatened Air Force’s core rivalries with teams such as Colorado State, New Mexico and Wyoming. Consequently, in 1998, eight WAC schools announced they would leave and form their own conference, the Mountain West Conference, the following year. Academy teams have continued to compete successfully in the new conference, with the men’s cross-country and track & field teams enjoying the most success. No Academy program has had a more successful run of NCAA participation than the ice hockey teams of the past few years. Between 2007 and 2012, the team, as champions of the Atlantic Hockey Association, made five NCAA tournament appearances.
On an individual level, Dana (Pounds) Lyon, Class of 2006, won the national javelin title at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, California. She became the Academy’s first female Division I national champion, and the first track and field champion since Callie Calhoun, Class of 1991, won the 10,000 meter title at the 1991 Division II national meet. The following year, Pounds defended her javelin title, becoming the Academy’s first back-to-back champion at the Division I level. The NCAA recognized Academy athletes for more than just their physical prowess. In the past few years, two cadets demonstrated the character evident in Air Force Academy cadets, both winning the NCAA Student-Athlete Sportsmanship Award: During the 2008 Junior Men’s Epee World Cup in Basel, Switzerland, Peter French, Class of 2010, struck the floor in an attempt for his opponent’s foot. The scoring director awarded
a point to French. Immediately, French acknowledged the scoring mistake and asked that the point be removed from his score, a gesture not usually exhibited in international competition. During a meet in February 2014, track and field athlete William Kent, Class of ’14, saw that his weight throw toss had been measured at 19.55 meters, a throw that would have been an Academy record and qualified him for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Knowing he did not throw that far, he approached the official to ensure the correct distance was recorded. Initially, the official insisted the distance was accurate, but upon further discussion with Kent, he lowered the mark to 18.55 meters. Air Force Academy scholarathletes have also fared well in the sports world after graduation, reflecting credit back on their alma mater. Ten Air Force Academy graduates have participated in the Olympic Games. In 1976,