It was a special weekend at Fort Lewis College for one of the best teams in the school’s history.
The members of the Skyhawks’ NCAA Division II National Championship winning 2005 men’s soccer team were inducted to the Fort Lewis College Hall of Fame on Sunday.
The 2005 Skyhawks’ 22-0-1 record is the best in school history. Current Fort Lewis women’s head coach Jimmy Hall was a student-coach on the 2005 squad. The head coach of the historic group, Jeremy Gunn, coached the 2015 Division I National Championship team at Stanford University and is still the most successful soccer coach in Fort Lewis history with a 123-35-17.
“This was my home for eight wonderful years and it’s so good to be back,” said Gunn. “This is such a special group of men. It makes it you truly understand what’s special about sports. The wins are fun but the people are everything.”
Fort Lewis beat Franklin Pierce in the 2005 championship match 3-1. The Skyhawks went on to win two more titles in the next six years. Both the 2009 and 2011 squads were coached by current men’s head coach Oige Kennedy.
It was the 2005 team, however, that was honored over the weekend. The team was recognized at halftime of Saturday night’s men’s basketball game and received a standing ovation. They were inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in a ceremony Sunday afternoon.
For Gunn, it was good to see the success and progress made by the men he spent so much time coaching.
“In my head I was still envisioning the guys all still in their mid twenties,” Gunn said. “It’s really great to see them moving on in life doing wonderful things. Some of them have started families and it’s just amazing to see them. All we can hope for in life is to be surrounded by good people and this is a special group of guys.”
The 2005 Fort Lewis College Division II champions inducted on Sunday are: Adam Beach, Jonathan Boyer, Nick Clark, Bernardo Costa, John Cunliffe, Tom Donley, John Eckhoff, Bryan Eisenbraun, Sean Flanagan, Kyle Fredrick, Ben Gantenbein, Jeremy Gunn (Head coach) Jimmy Hall (coach), Kieran Hall, Erik Hardin, Ryan Kerr, Nick Kirchhof, Taylor Lavoy, Andy McDermid (coach), Scott McGinn (student trainer), Darren Morgan (coach), Ryan Parsons, Carter Rice, Casey Roberts, Paul Sanchez, Cole Sweetser, Justin Valashinas, Cliff Wilmes, and Kenny Wood.
jfries@durangoherald.com
