Air Force Falcons
Air Force Falcons | |
---|---|
Cadet Fieldhouse Cadet East Gym | |
Mascot | The Bird and Aurora |
Nickname | Falcons |
Fight song | "Falcon Fight Song" (unofficial: "The U.S. Air Force") |
Colors | Blue and silver[1] |
Website | goairforcefalcons |
The Air Force Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the United States Air Force Academy, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The athletics department has 17 men's and 10 women's NCAA-sanctioned teams. The current athletic director is Nathan Pine. The majority of Falcon teams compete as members of the Mountain West Conference.
Team name origin
The falcon mascot was selected by popular vote of the Academy's Class of 1959, the first class to graduate from the Academy. The team
Teams sponsored
Men's sports | Women's sports |
---|---|
Baseball | Basketball |
Basketball | Boxing |
Boxing | Cross country |
Cross country | Gymnastics |
Football | Soccer |
Golf | Swimming & diving |
Gymnastics | Tennis |
Ice hockey | Track & field† |
Lacrosse | Volleyball |
Soccer | |
Swimming & diving | |
Tennis | |
Track & field† | |
Water polo | |
Wrestling | |
Co-ed sports | |
Fencing – Rifle | |
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor. |
As a primary member of the
Baseball
Air Force enjoyed some success on the
The baseball program plays home games at
Basketball
Men's basketball
The men's
- NCAA Tournament appearances: 1960, 1962, 2004, 2006
- NIT Tournament appearances: 2007 (semifinals)
- Mountain West Conference champions: 2004 Regular Season
Women's basketball
The women's basketball team competed at the Division II level in both the AIAW and NCAA between 1976 and 1996. Since then, the team has competed at the Division I level.
- NCAA tournamentappearances: 1985, 1990
- AIAWNational Tournament appearances: 1979, 1980
Boxing
The Air Force men's boxing team has had astonishing success. Led for 31 years by Coach Ed Weichers, the team has won 18 National Collegiate Boxing Association championships, and until 2009, had never finished lower than second in the nation. In 2009, the team finished third in the nation.
The women's team debuted in national-level competition during the 2015 NCBA championships.[5] The 2017 NCBA tournament featured the first individual national boxing title for the women's team.[6]
On November 5, 2021, the men's and women's boxing teams took part in the first-ever boxing matches held at Globe Life Field, as a pre-gameday event before the Army-Air Force football game the following day; Air Force won the matchup 6 bouts to 4.[7]
Fencing
Football
Ice hockey
From 2007 to 2009, the men's hockey team won three straight
Lacrosse
Air Force has fielded an NCAA men's lacrosse team since 1967.
Rifle
In June, 2013, Air Force became a charter member of the Patriot Rifle Conference.
Wrestling
The Falcon wrestling team began competition in 1957 and currently competes in the Big 12 Conference (the Mountain West doesn't sponsor wrestling). In 1991 AF wrestling won the WAC championship, the first ever by any USAFA sports team. From 2006 to 2015, the Falcons had been a member of the Western Wrestling Conference (WWC), but the conference chose to disband after the 2014–15 school year when all of its members accepted an offer of single-sport membership in the Big 12. Home wrestling events are held at either the Cadet East Gym or at Clune Arena. The team is currently coached by former Olympian Joel Sharratt in his eighth season, and former national champion for the University of Iowa, under the tutelage of legendary coach Dan Gable.
Falcons Wrestling Accomplishments:
- WAC Team Championships: 1 (1991)
- All-Academy Wrestling Championships: 4 (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002)
- NCAA National Champions: 1
- NCAA All-Americans: 11
- WWC/West Regional Champions: 9
- WAC Champions: 18
- MIWA Champions: 18
Soccer
The Air Force's soccer team has competed in NCAA Division I men's college soccer competitions since 1956, competing as members in the Western Athletic Conference. They are coached by Doug Hill and Assistant Coach Chris Foster, and their home matches are played at Cadet Soccer Stadium.[10][11] Their best performances in the 14 NCAA Tournaments the team has qualified for have been reaching the quarterfinals in 1968 and 1993.[12]
Notable club sports
Rugby
The Air Force rugby program was created in 1968 and began competing in
Team handball
The Air Force team handball program was created in 1976. It's one of the must successful men's team handball college program in the country with 3 national titles. At the beginning they had also a women's team. They won a national title in 1988. The Air Force men's team is one of few colleges which has won an adults national title this was in the year 1978.[17] Their fiercest and longest college team handball rivalry is with Army.[18]
History
Athletic Directors
Here's a list of previous Athletic directors:[19]
- Col Robert V. Whitlow, 1954–1957
- Col George B. Simler, 1957–1960
- Col Maurice L. Martin, 1960–1963
- Col Edmund A. Rafalko, 1963–1967
- Col Francis E. Merritt, 1967–1975
- Col John Clune, 1975–1991
- Col Ken Schweitzer, 1991–1996
- Col Randall Randy Spetman, 1996–2004
- Dr. Hans Mueh, 2004–2015
- Jim Knowlton, 2015–2018
- Col Jennifer Block, 2018–2019
- Nathan Pine, 2019–present
National championships
Team
Sport | Association | Division | Year | Opponent/Runner-up | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Women's swimming and diving (2) | NCAA
|
Division II | 1995 | Oakland
|
690–563 (+127) |
1996 | Oakland | 697.5–625 (+72.5) |
Facilities
- Cadet Fieldhouse
- Cadet Ice Arena(cap. 2,502) – part of the Cadet Fieldhouse
- Clune Arena(cap. 5,939) – part of the Cadet Fieldhouse
- Eisenhower Golf course
- Falcon Baseball Field (cap. 1,000)[20]
- Falcon Stadium (cap. 52,480)
- Jacks Valley
- Cadet Soccer Stadium
- Cadet Lacrosse Stadium[21]
See also
References
- ^ "Air Force Athletics Style Sheet" (PDF). March 12, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
- ^ "Meet Nova, the Air Force Academy's new mascot". 14 September 2020.
- ^ "West Coast Conference Adds Men's Water Polo" (Press release). West Coast Conference. July 19, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
- ^ "Facilities". Air Force Academy Official Athletic Site. 2014. Archived from the original on May 15, 2009. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
- ^ "Air Force Opens Competition at NCBA Championships". Retrieved 2019-10-12.
- ^ "Falcons Earn Four NCBA National Titles". Retrieved 2019-08-21.
- ^ "Falcons Take Down Army West Point in Texas". Air Force Falcons. November 5, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
- ^ "2017 LAX Media Guide" (PDF). Air Force Academy. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-06-15. Retrieved 2017-10-10.
- ^ "ASUN Conference Announces Formation of Men's Lacrosse League" (Press release). ASUN Conference. February 5, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
- ^ "Chris Foster - Men's Soccer Coach". Air Force Academy Athletics. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ "Doug Hill - Men's Soccer Coach". Air Force Academy Athletics. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ "NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Brackets" (PDF). fs.ncaa.org. National Collegiate Athletic Association. July 30, 2017. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
- ^ "College conferences". USA Rugby. 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
- College rugby
- ^ "Air Force Flies at Rocky Mountain 7s". Rugby Mag. October 21, 2012. Archived from the original on September 8, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
- ^ "Men's 7s Final Brackets, Standings, Scores". Rugby Mag. November 25, 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
- ^ Bergeman, David (March 2013). "USAFA Team Handball Excellence". Checkpoints: 38–43. Retrieved 2018-04-05.
- ^ "Army Hoodie". Archived from the original on 2018-07-04. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
Beat Air Force
- ^ http://www.usafa.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-120118-030.pdf Archived 2014-12-22 at the Wayback Machine, OUR ACADEMY HERITAGE
- ^ See Mountain West Conference#Conference facilities.
- ^ Armer, David (March 25, 2008). "Cadet Lacrosse Stadium in Colorado Springs". defenseimagery.mil. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2014.