The Don Whalen Outstanding Senior Male Athlete of the Year award is presented each year to the most outstanding senior male student-athlete(s) at Fort Lewis College. It is named after Dr. Don Whalen, a longtime coach, administrator and supporter of Skyhawk Athletics. During his career at FLC from 1959 to 1988, he served as men's basketball coach, golf coach, director of athletics, and dean of education, vice president of academic affairs and, ultimately, two stints as interim president. This year's fall honoree is cross country runner Hosava Kretzmann.
A senior from Prescott, Ariz., Kretzmann finished his season with yet another impressive result when he placed 47th at the NCAA Championships. This season he earned a multitude of honors including USTFCCCA All-Region, NCAA All-Region and All-RMAC First Team. He came on strong when he needed too the most this year, coming in eighth at the NCAA South Central Regional to qualify for Nationals against the top runners in the best region in the nation. At the RMAC Championships, he grabbed a sixth-place finish and added strong finishes of 15th at the Fort Hays Invite and fourth at the Roy Griak, both featuring strong fields from across the country. He set a personal best 10k time of 31:04.9 at Regionals, which also ranks him second in program history in the 10k. Last year, Kretzmann was named the team MVP, while earning All-RMAC Second Team honors when he placed 16th at the RMAC Championships.
