As 2024 begins, it’s an appropriate time to look back at 2023 and reflect on how Fort Lewis College athletics fared. The Skyhawks provided plenty of memories for their fans on the field, hardwood and many places in between.
The Durango Herald talked to numerous Fort Lewis coaches to discuss their favorite memory from their season.
Men’s soccer: Clinching the regular season title
On Oct. 29, the Skyhawks beat Colorado Mesa 3-0 to win their first RMAC regular season title since 2011.
“Us clinching the regular season title but in general just that entire weekend,” Fort Lewis coach David Oberholtzer said. “That was at Mesa on Sunday when we played really well and beat them to close the title. But then even on the Friday at Westminster, coming back from 2-0 down and scoring the equalizing goal with 40 seconds on the clock, to still kind of keep the championship hopes in reach. I think that was that was a super fun moment too.”
Fort Lewis reached the second round of the NCAA Division II tournament, but lost to No. 1 seed Midwestern State University, 2-1. The Skyhawks finished the season 12-5-4.
Men’s basketball: Winning the RMAC tournament
On March 4, Fort Lewis men’s basketball continued its historic season by beating Colorado School of Mines 82-76 to win the RMAC tournament championship.
“2023 will always be special for Fort Lewis basketball,” Skyhawks coach Bob Pietrack said. “But one of the very, most special memories in our program's history was winning the RMAC tournament over one of our rivals in Colorado Mines on our other rival’s floor.
“So it was a double special moment because you got to beat Colorado Mines who has become a championship rival with us. We've played for four cups since 2011 and Fort Lewis is 3-1 in those games. To do it on Colorado Mesa’s floor was a special moment in the history of Fort Lewis basketball.”
The Skyhawks finished the season 29-4 after losing to Black Hills State University 81-66 in the second round of the NCAA Division II tournament.
Fort Lewis also finished the 2023 calendar year 28-4, which is the best calendar year in program history, according to Pietrack.
Women’s basketball: Beating Utah State
The Skyhawks pulled off a 70-69 upset win against Division I Utah State University in a scrimmage on Oct. 30. It was the first win over a Division I opponent in Fort Lewis coach Taylor Harris’ tenure.
“Even though it was only six weeks ago, at Utah State I think that had to be the most memorable because I think it reached the greatest audience to just show how far we've come in the last three years,” Harris said.
Fort Lewis is currently 7-4, just two wins away from matching its nine-win campaign in 2022-23.
Cross country and track and field: Both cross country teams qualifying for the national championships
On Nov. 18, both the men’s and women’s cross country squads competed in the NCAA Division II National Championships in Joplin, Missouri.
Numerous runners set school records with their times. Senior Katie Heck and freshman Linda Weigang were All-Americans.
“That was the first time in school history that both teams qualified at the same time,” Skyhawks coach Shawn Jakubowski said. “I think the last time the men went it was like 2012 or 13 and the last time two women went was 2006. They only select the top 32 teams in the country to go there. Both of us went there and we finished higher than our ranking going in.”
The men’s team finished 13th, while the women’s team finished 20th.
Football: Battling Adams State
Fort Lewis football struggled again this season with another winless campaign. However, the Skyhawks came close to winning their first game since 2019 when they lost a 25-24 nail-biter against Adams State University on Sept. 23.
“In the Adams State game, where the year before we lost 55 or 50-14 or 45-7 or something like that,” Skyhawks coach Johnny Cox said. “Then this year, unfortunately, we lost in the waning moments of the game. We had an opportunity to win, and in that locker room afterward, you could see how upset we were but then also everybody was able to see how much we improved. People are upset when we lose, but we were really upset when we lost that one.”
The Skyhawks will enter the 2024 season on a 39-game losing streak.
Women’s volleyball: Beating CSU Pueblo in five sets
Fort Lewis women’s volleyball had an up-and-down season at 13-13. But for Skyhawks coach Giedre Tarnauskaite, the fifth set of the match against CSU Pueblo on Nov. 4 sticks out.
“We ended up taking them to a fifth set,” Tarnauskaite said. “I can't remember exactly what the score was … It's a battle point to point and we play the last point and we lose it, it’s 15-13 and Pueblo is celebrating and I challenge the call. I make a challenge play on the net call in the middle of the rally, and we win the call.
“This is the first year we have a replay system. That's why it's also epic. We didn't have that before and we win the challenge. You could drop a pin in a gym, everybody was holding their breath. I thought I'm either going to be crazy for doing this or it's going to be good and it works and we got the call back so now it's 14-14 and then I'm like we keep battling point to point I'm pretty sure we won 17-14.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
