UCCS coupled an outstanding athletic year with a record-setting nine All-Americans and two Academic All-Americans in the 2014-15 academic year.
The nine All-Americans were the most in school history while the pair of Academic All-Americans matches the most in an academic year.
Mountain Lion student-athletes earned All-America honors in each of the fall, winter and spring seasons and represented five of the 14 teams. The nine All-America awards matched the total from the previous four years combined and surpassed the previous record of seven in the 2004-05 year.
James Roberts, a Perrysburg, Ohio, senior, was a member of the Daktronics All-America Second Team and the Capital One Academic All-America Second Team. He was the male recipient of UCCS McLaughlin Award this year as the first men’s soccer All-American since 1997 and first Academic All-American in program history. Roberts was a member of RMAC All-Tournament Team, All-RMAC First Team, Daktronics All-Region First Team and NSCAA All-Region Second Team.
Ryder Tam, a Boulder senior, earned a spot on the Capital One Academic All-America Third Team in men’s cross country and track and field. He was named to the RMAC All-Academic First Team in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track in each of the last two seasons. Tam was the RMAC Indoor Track and Field Academic Athlete of the Year in 2013 and won the RMAC Cross Country Summit Award in 2012 with the best GPA at the championship. He was the fourth scoring runner for UCCS at NCAA Division II Men’s Cross Country National Championships last December.
Heather Bates, a Colorado Springs freshman, finished 16 at the NCAA Division II Women’s Cross Country National Championships to earn All-America honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. She placed second among the nation’s freshmen in the fourth-highest finish for any Mountain Lion at the national meet. Bates was the RMAC Runner of the Week on Sept. 27 and the first Mountain Lion to earn runner of the week honors since October 2008. She was the RMAC Freshman of the Year and a member of the All-RMAC and USTFCCCA All-South Central Region teams.
Derrick White, a Parker junior, was a member of the Daktronics All-America Second Team, National Association of Basketball Coaches All-America Team and Division II Bulletin Second Team. He was the NCAA Division II statistical champion with 851 points and 274 made free throws, and was second in nation with 25.8 points per game, third with 265 made field goals and No. 12 with 68 blocked shots. White was the RMAC Tournament Most Valuable Player and a member of the Daktronics All-Region Team, NABC All-South Central Region Team and South Central Region All-Tournament Team. He was an eight-time RMAC Player of the Week and two-time USBWA Player of the Week. White holds UCCS career scoring and assists records.
Abby Kirchoff, a Barrington, Ill., senior, was named to the Division II Bulletin All-America Third Team and WBCA All-America Honorable Mention list. She is the first All-American in women’s basketball history and finished her career with UCCS records with 1,951 career points, 633 points in a season and 39 points against Regis. Kirchoff was the RMAC Player of the Year, USBWA National Player of the Week on Dec. 16 and was a four-time RMAC Player of the Week. She was also selected to All-RMAC First Team, Daktronics All-South Central Region First Team and All-South Central Region Tournament Team.
Travis Anderson, a Parker freshman, was a member of the distance medley relay team that finished 11 at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships to earn USTFCCCA All-America Second Team accolades. He ran the third leg as an alternate for the team. Anderson was also a member of the 4×400-meter relay that scored points at the RMAC Indoor Championships in February.
Carson Aberle, an Arvada senior , ran the leadoff leg of the distance medley relay at the NCAA Championships. It was his second indoor All-America honor in his career. Aberle was also a provisional qualifier in the indoor 800-meter run and scored points at the RMAC Indoor Championships in the 800-meter run and 4×400-meter relay.
Ryan Buchanan, a Glenwood Springs senior, earned his first career All-America award with the distance meddler relay. He also earned his third top-five finish in the outdoor 400-meter hurdles at the RMAC Outdoor Championships with a fifth-place finish in May.
Kyle McCloskey, a Cascade senior, ran the anchor leg of the distance medley relay at the national indoor championships. He was also a provisional qualifier in the indoor 800-meter run with a time that ranked No. 30 in the Division II performance lists. McCloskey also finished sixth in the 800-meter run at the RMAC Championships.
Patrick Skakel, a Birmingham, England, senior, was named to the PING All-America Honorable Mention team. He was the Division II West / South Central Region Champion and finished No. 54 at NCAA Division II National Championships. Skakel was also a member of PING All-South Central Region Team, All-RMAC First Team and RMAC All-Tournament Team. He averaged 74.24 strokes per round and four top-10 finishes in his senior season.
UCCS recorded its highest finish in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup since 2004-05 with a 80th-place finish in the national all-sport competition. The Mountain Lions ranked sixth among RMAC schools in the national standings. UCCS student-athletes also extended its streak of a departmental grade point average greater than 3.0 to 22 consecutive semesters in the 2014-15 year.
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