Academy sports wrap: Falcon javelin thrower honored by conference officials

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SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) --  Backed by a record-setting performance at the Arizona State University Invitational in Tempe, Ariz., javelin thrower Dana Pounds was named the Mountain West Conference Women’s Track and Field Co-Athlete of the Week, league officials announced March 29.

With a toss of 182 feet 1 inch at the meet, Pounds set new academy and conference records, and she recorded the best throw in the nation this season. Her winning throw was more than 36-feet farther than the second-place finisher. Pounds shared the weekly honor with San Diego State University's Shayla Balentine, who recorded the nation’s top collegiate pole vault mark.

Falcon swimmer Chris Knaute placed 21st in the 400-yard individual medley prelims at the 2005 NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships on March 25 at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Knaute, the 2005 Mountain West Conference Men’s Swimmer of the Year, finished at 3 minutes 51.93 seconds, which was a little more than one second off his career-best and school-best mark of 3:50.22. The following day, he placed 31st in the 1,650 yard freestyle finals at 15:22.73.

On the links, the Falcon golf team finished sixth at the Diablo Grande Intercollegiate tournament in Patterson, Calif. Ending with its best round of the week, the Air Force golf team shot a 302 to finish with a three-round score of 939. The team title for the tournament, which was held at the par-72, 7,018-yard Diablo Grande Ranch Course, went to the University of California at Davis team, which scored a 904.

In lacrosse action, the Falcons played two matches during the week, losing the first, but winning the second. Both games went right down to the wire. In a closely contested match March 23, the Falcons lost a heartbreaker to Fairfield College in Fairfield, Conn., 10-9. With the score tied at 9-9 with just 1:05 remaining in the contest, Fairfield’s Travis Nelson scored the game-winning goal. In the second game, held at St. John's University in Queens, N.Y., the Falcons held off a third-period rally by the Red Storm to notch a 13-11 nonconference win. With the win, the academy team evened their overall record at 3-3.

The Air Force baseball team (5-17) split a doubleheader with the University of Northern Colorado (7-21) in Greeley, Colo., on March 29. The Falcons took game one, 6-3, and the Bears won the second game, 15-6. In the opening game, the Falcons jumped out an early 5-0 lead and hung on to win 6-3. Air Force cranked out seven hits in the first two innings to build the big lead. In game two, an eight-run sixth inning helped UNC to a 15-6 win. The Bears also had 17 hits while the Falcons self-destructed defensively with five errors.