Fort Lewis College Athletics: 2022-23 Year in Review

Reflecting on 2022-23

Skyhawks fans were treated to another exceptional year in athletics, including championships seasons, meaningful events, and commitments to enhancing facilities and resources for student-athletes in the coming years. We saw over 80 home events across our four home facilities throughout the year and hosted the RMAC Cross Country Championships for the first time in program history.

The department hosted The Skyler’s and a spring Hall of Fame ceremony, inducting an all-soccer class to honor the rich history of Skyhawks soccer. Fort Lewis had over 30 student-athlete named to All-Conference teams as well as All-Region, All-American, and National Runner-Up accolades. There were over 60 student-athletes named to Academic All-Conference teams, and the department ended the year with a cumulative GPA of 3.24.

Below, we will highlight each team and their group and individual accomplishments. Thank you for your continued support of Skyhawks Athletics, we could not have done so many amazing things this year without you. 

The Skyler's, an awards ceremony for our dedicated student-athletes, was bigger and better than ever this year. We celebrated graduating seniors, All-Conference, All-American, and All-Academic student-athletes and gave each head coach time to reflect on their season. The event was catered by Taco Libre.

Major Award Winners

Skyler's Spirit Award: JoJo Lutz, Women's Lacrosse

Men's Comeback Player of the Year: Hunter Villavicencio, Football

Women's Comeback Player of the Year: Rylee Johnson, Volleyball

Men's Community Service Award: Men's Soccer

Women's Community Service Award: Volleyball

Play of the Year: Softball, Kayla Stone go-ahead homer versus CMU

Game of the Year: Nike N7, Men's and Women's Basketball

Coaching Staff of the Year: Men's Basketball

Team of the Year: Men's Basketball

Men's Don Whalen Academic Award: Max Robinson, Men's XC/T&F

Women's Don Whalen Academic Award: Peyton Glenn, Women's Golf

Men's Newcomer of the Year: Q Mays, Men's Basketball

Women's Newcomer of the Year: Lanae Billy, Women's Basketball

Men's Athlete of the Year: Akuel Kot, Men's Basketball

Women's Athlete of the Year: Katie Fankhouser, Women's XC/T&F

Two days after The Skyler's, Whalen Gymnasium was the home of the spring Hall of Fame event where four individuals and two teams were inducted. Honoring the rich history of soccer at FLC, the class was entirely comprised of soccer players, coaches, and teams. Presenters included alumni, former administrators, current coaches, and key members of the community. The weekend began with a welcome event at Taco Libre and wrapped up with a pair of spring games on Dirks Field. 

Fort Lewis College athletics continued its celebration of Native American heritage through the Nike N7 fund, a program which has awarded $7.5 million in grants to 259 Native American and Aboriginal communities and organizations, reaching more than 500,000 youths. The N7 Fund supports organizations that provide sports and physical activity programming to youth in these communities.

This year's Nike N7 Games mark the fifth time Fort Lewis College has been selected as one of only 11 institutions nationwide — Oklahoma State, Oral Roberts, Gonzaga, Florida State, Marquette, University of New Mexico, San Diego State, Stanford, Haskell Indian Nations, Mesa Community College, and Fort Lewis College — to participate in the games, which are held in November in celebration of Native American Heritage Month.

In addition to the N7 celebration at men's and women's basketball, we expanded to softball and women's lacrosse in 2023. Below are three videos created by women's basketball student-athlete Ruby Sweeney-Spitzeck that highlight our women's basketball, women's lacrosse, and softball teams.

The men's and women's cross country teams both had highlight years while competing in the toughest conference and region in NCAA DII. The men's team finished eighth at the RMAC Championships, hosted by FLC at Hillcrest Golf Course for the first time in program history. Junior Ethan Bartlett led the men's team with a 30th place finish. The women's team turned in a ninth place finish, led by junior Katie Fankhouser who placed 13th and picked up First Team All-Conference nods. 

Fankhouser went on to place 11th at the regional meet to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA DII Championships. She kicked it up a notch in early December and took home First Team All-American honors with a 26th place finish at the national meet. The team ended the year with 14 student-athletes named to the RMAC All-Academic teams. 

The Skyhawks competed under first year head coach Johnny Cox this past fall. The trio of Ryan Barkley, Dylan Holt, and Zach Russell were named All-RMAC Honorable Mention at the conclusion of the season. Max Hyson represented Fort Lewis as a First Team All-Academic pick for the second-consecutive season while Matthew Waid, Tristen William, and Barkley earned Honor Roll nods. Hyson went on to be named the All-Colorado Scholar-Athlete of the Year, an award which was presented to him in April. The Skyhawks enjoyed their first spring with coach Cox, competing in a pair of well-attended spring games on the Rim. The staff has also secured 50+ new recruits for the upcoming season. Fans can find the team's 2023 schedule here.

The men's soccer team finished the season with a 4-11-2 overall record and a 4-3 record on their home pitch. The team was able to experience night games for the first time thanks to the generous donation of field lights which were installed throughout the summer. The Skyhawks dropped seven games by a one-goal margin while recording three shutout wins throughout the year. Gabriel Legendre was named Second Team All-RMAC after racking up 19 points (seven goals, five assists), and Isaac Garro, Loic Jean-Baptiste, and Maximilian Meir were each named to the Honorable Mention team. Legendre was also named First Team All-Academic while Andres Hernandez, Jakob Maurek, Brenden Oberg, and Ismael Hernandez earned Honor Roll recognition. The Skyhawks have added eight freshmen and six transfers for the 2023 season. 

The women's soccer team experienced a promising season with a very young group of players, going 6-11-2, 5-6-1 RMAC, and 6-1-2 at home. It took five games before the Skyhawks earned their first win, but that was the beginning of a strong back-half of the season which led to the RMAC Tournament. Fort Lewis fell in an extremely narrow 2-1 loss to No. 25 UCCS in the opening round of the tournament, surrendering the game-winning goal with just four seconds remaining in regulation. Madyson Barela, Elizabeth David, and Sabrina Reyes were each named All-RMAC Honorable Mention at the conclusion of the season. Katie Dunbabin, Meredith Satre, Riley Bravin, Gaby Meraz-Fishbein, and Barela earned a spot on the All-Academic Honor Roll. Fort Lewis has added 10+ players to the 2023 roster and will begin the season on Saturday, September 2 versus Eastern New Mexico University in Alamosa, Colorado.

The Skyhawks were 10-15 on the year and 8-10 in conference play, advancing to the RMAC Tournament for the first time under the guidance of head coach Giedre Tarnauskaite. Fort Lewis played a challenging schedule with eight matches against teams ranked in the top-25. Among those matches, the Skyhawks nearly pulled off an upset over No. 20 Regis University before falling in five sets. The team ended the home portion of its season with back-to-back key wins over Adams State University and New Mexico Highlands to propel the group forward to the postseason. Alexis Hobie was named Second Team All-RMAC, stepping up her game in her second season as a Skyhawk, bettering her numbers in nearly every statistical category and leading the team with 258 kills. Ella Butler earned a spot on the Honorable Mention team. Rylee Johnson, Kamryn Lopez, Joviana Romero, and Korrina Pace were named to the All-Academic Honor Roll. Tarnauskaite added seven signees for the 2023 season, including NCAA Division I transfer Chloe Ruhl. 

The women's basketball team enjoyed a successful season under the leadership of second year head coach Taylor Harris. After a challenging 2021-22 season, the Skyhawks turned in a 9-19 overall record with a 6-16 clip in conference play. Freshman Lanae Billy burst onto the scene, earning Second Team All-Conference nods after averaging16 points per-game to rank fifth in the conference. She recorded double-digit points in 22 games, including 10 games with 20+ points. Kelsey Sorenson was named to the Honorable Mention team with career numbers in points per game (12.7) and rebounds per game (7.0)—marks that ranked 13th and 11th in the conference, respectively. The Utah product had double-digit points on 18 occasions while racking up five double-doubles. Sorenson was named All-Academic First Team while Ember Cervantes, Brooke McGee, Tayla Nez, and Samantha Wattawa each found a spot on the Honor Roll. The Skyhawks ended the season ranked 20th in NCAA DII in average home attendance (905 fans/game).

The men's basketball team enjoyed a historic season, finishing the year with a 29-4 overall record and an RMAC record of 19-3 to earn the conference crown. The team also earned the RMAC Tournament title after topping No. 13/25 Mines in the championship game. The Skyhawks went on to compete in the NCAA Tournament where they ultimately fell to Black Hills State--facing the Yellow Jackets for the fourth time this season. The team ended the season ranked seventh in the NABC poll and 12th in the final D2SIDA poll. Akuel Kot and JaQuaylon Mays were each tabbed with First Team All-Conference honors while Brenden Boatwright earned a spot on the Second Team. Obi Agbim and Scottie Stafford were named Honorable Mention All-RMAC. Kot went on to be named D2CCA First Team All South-Central Region, NABC First Team All-Region, D2CCA Second Team All-American, NABC First Team All-American, and was a top-25 finalist for the Bevo Francis Award. Head coach Bob Pietrack was named the NABC South Central Coach of the Year. The Skyhawks ranked fifth in NCAA DII in average home attendance (1,858 fans/game).

The Skyhawks men's and women's golf teams started the season in September before competing in championship season through the end of April. The men's team finished the year with a seventh-place spot at the RMAC Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ronald Kildall III led the men's team in a six-way tie for 12th place. The women's team finished eighth at RMAC's, led by Brooke Sturtevant who tied for 12th. Henry Poston and Kildall III were each named to the RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll. Earning All-Academic Honor Roll for the Skyhawks are Peyton Glenn, Emilia Manntz, Emma Tornroos, Brooke Sturtevant, Molly Schwartz, and Kendal Gutierrez.

Women's lacrosse ended the season with a 3-10 overall record while going 3-7 in conference play. The team picked up a crucial pair of home wins to close out the season before falling on the road and narrowly missing out on postseason play. Haley Dostie and Rebecca Kiyokawa were each named Second Team All-RMAC at the conclusion of the season. Dostie proved to be a prolific scorer for the Skyhawks this spring, netting 45 goals to go along with seven assists. Her goal total ranks second all-time in single-season Skyhawks history, behind Ally Kvidera's 47 goals in 2012. Her goals per game average of 3.46 ranked second in the conference. Kiyokawa totaled a career-high 40 draw controls to go along with 23 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers. Averi Basso, Makena Carter, and Samantha Rodgers each found a spot on the Honorable Mention list. Basso and Kiyokawa went on to be named All-Academic First Team while eight additional players earned Honor Roll nods. 

Softball fought from start to finish this season, ending the season with a 23-26 overall record and a 21-21 mark in league play. The Skyhawks were 15-5 at home in 2023. Fort Lewis narrowly missed out on postseason play after ended the season with losses at No. 9 Colorado Christian. Six players were named to the All-RMAC Honorable Mention team, including Alex Tenorio who led the team in batting with an average of .377 to go along with 11 doubles, eight home runs, and 33 RBI's. Amiee Shanks earned First Team All-Academic accolades while Hannah Rutherford, Cara Daugherty, Cat Rodman, and Katie Pippel found a spot on the Honor Roll. Three Skyhawks were named to the CSC Academic All-District team.

What an incredible year is was for the men's and women's outdoor track programs. Head coach Shawn Jakubowski coached a huge portion of the student-athletes to personal bests and program records. It seemed like every outing turned in new records and other accomplishments to highlight. Brandy Ray, Katie Fankhouser, and Bean Minor were each named All-Conference at the RMAC Championships--the first All-Conference honors for the program. Fankhouser earned the 1500m title on the final day of the Championships. Fankhouser went on to earn National Runner-Up in the 1500m at the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships. It was a great ending to a dominant junior campaign for the Lyons native. The program had 15 student-athletes named to the All-Academic Honor Roll and eight placed on the CSC Academic All-District team. 

Indigenous People's Day: https://goskyhawks.com/news/2022/10/10/indigenous-peoples-day-and-skyhawks-athletics.aspx 

Glow Up - Soccer Lights: https://goskyhawks.com/news/2022/8/30/mens-soccer-vargas-scores-hat-trick-as-skyhawks-soar-over-grizzlies.aspx 

Cycling Takes Home Gold in Fall: https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/fort-lewis-finishes-nationals-with-gold-in-team-relay/

Health Science Center (Schlessman Family Hall): https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/fort-lewis-college-to-unveil-new-health-sciences-center/

FLC Athletics Strategic Plan: https://goskyhawks.com/news/2023/5/18/general-fort-lewis-college-athletics-unveils-new-strategic-plan.aspx 

Addition of Indoor Track & Field - 2023-24: https://goskyhawks.com/news/2023/1/22/mens-cross-country-fort-lewis-college-announces-the-addition-of-indoor-track-and-field-for-the-2023-24-season.aspx 

Cycling Earns Gold in Spring at Road Nationals: https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/skyhawks-win-two-golds-at-road-nationals/

FLC Athletics Casino Night - August 5, 2023: https://goskyhawks.com/news/2023/4/26/general-skyhawks-club-casino-night-set-for-saturday-august-5.aspx

When Science Meets Sport: Skyhawks Breaking Barriers in S.T.E.M.: https://goskyhawks.com/news/2023/5/1/when-science-meets-sport-skyhawks-breaking-barriers-ins-t-e-m.aspx

Skyhawks Cycling Competes at Cyclocross Nationals: https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/skyhawks-race-in-muddy-cyclocross-championships/

$110,000 Raised During Giving Tuesday: https://goskyhawks.com/news/2022/11/30/womens-lacrosse-skyhawks-athletics-raises-over-110-000-during-giving-tuesday-campaign.aspx