The first climb of the Air Force men’s lacrosse team’s Trifecta took off at Stanley Canyon, a trail at the base of the Rocky Mountains just a short drive from the U.S. Air Force Academy campus in Colorado Springs, Colo. The same goes for Stage 2, which will take place at Eagle’s Peak, a popular trail adjacent to the Academy’s Visitor Center. Stage 3 will commence at Manitou Springs — a mile of stairs at the base of Pike’s Peak, the 14,000-foot staple of the Colorado Rocky Mountains.
The three stages comprise the Trifecta, a timed competition between Air Force’s six “tribes” — Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarora, Mohawk and Oneida. The top average time between the tribes will win.
“It keeps us in shape,” captain Brandon Jones said. “We’ve got the Colorado mountains out here, so we try to take advantage of the scenery.”
It’s a tradition of which former coach Eric Seremet was a major proponent during his 16 seasons at Air Force, both as an assistant and head coach. While he resigned from the program following the 2018 season — one where he served a season-long suspension amid a hazing investigation — the program isn’t erasing all of its history.
“We all loved Coach Seremet,” Jones said. “He’s a great coach. He was the one who started the whole Trifecta run and the tribe system, so we try to keep that culture with us. We feel like it helped us a lot.”
Bill Wilson, Seremet’s former assistant, served as the interim head coach for the 2018 season. Air Force has since removed the interim label. Both Wilson and the players are eager to move on from the player suspensions and a 5-10 record that included a 3-4 mark in the Southern Conference.
Wilson steps in after spending 10 seasons as an assistant at Air Force. He’s helped build a new culture in Colorado Springs this fall, not forgetting the lessons learned from last season, both on and off the field.
“Our guys are mature enough to look at what happened and to grow from it and be better for it,” Wilson said. “They’ll be better officers in the future, without a doubt, if they’ve learned and they’re moving on.”
“It’s something we still think about," Jones said of the investigation that overshadowed 2018. “What we need to do is be able to have what happened last year fuel our fire and help us bounce back.”
It’s not the first time Wilson has been called upon to lead a Division I program. He served as the head coach at Dartmouth for six seasons, compiling a record of 40-44. Although his experience will help him as he charges forward, the Air Force Academy is a whole new adventure.
“I absolutely love the mission and what we do at the Air Force Academy,” Wilson said. “I’ve recruited all the guys that are in the program. Sorry to see how things worked out the year before. It was very difficult. But I’m very excited for the future and for the men that are in the program.
“Things are a little bit different when you’re at an academy. As a head coach, you have to understand balance and life and what your players are going through. For me, that might be the biggest lessons from my younger days as a head coach to where I am now, is really focusing on the present, the culture, what the team needs.”
Wilson will certainly welcome a veteran team — one that includes a senior class that has helped foster relationships with the freshman class, just out of cadet school. Jones, Cameron Carter and Jack Flynn round out the senior captains, who have made an extra effort this offseason to help the underclassmen transition to the lacrosse program at the academy.
These upperclassmen have seen the potential for this program, like the back-to-back conference championships in 2016-17.
“We have juniors and seniors on this team who know what it takes to win a conference championship and compete at the highest level,” Jones said. “The attitude coming into this fall was to not take anything for granted and come out here and work hard every single day and give it everything you got.”
Air Force graduated 10 seniors from last season, including two (Chris Walsch and Grant Gould) who did not play the entire season. That meant underclassmen got valuable playing experience that could help foster a team ready to compete in 2019.
Wilson admitted this squad may have more depth than those in years past, another plus heading into next year. Juniors Matthew Schwarz and Trey Lervick finished second and third, respectively, in scoring last season, while faceoff man Trent Harper is back after winning 52.8 of his faceoffs in 2018.
Not to mention, Wilson welcomes a 14-player freshman class that will hope to find playing time immediately.
“We have some young players, some freshmen on the roster, that are pushing at every position,” he said. “That’s a sign of a healthy program, that you have young guys working extremely hard and moving in the right direction. While [the upperclassmen] are helping them learn the way, they’re also extremely motivated because they’re being pushed by the younger guys.”
In addition to a veteran lineup, Air Force announced last week that it will bring in one of the game’s greatest to mentor the Falcons. John Grant Jr., the former MLL and NLL MVP, joins the Air Force staff as an assistant.
Grant, who played for the Denver Outlaws in parts of three seasons and was the offensive coordinator for this year’s MLL championship team, will look to follow his father, John Grant Sr., as a successful coach.
“It’s a dream come true to be able to coach this level of lacrosse,” he said in a press release from the school. “Being in Colorado, I’ve had the opportunity to watch Air Force. I’ve coached a young man that went there and also got to see a couple guys I coached against. Air Force is one of the top programs in the country and they only bring in the best quality kids from across the United States. I’m extremely excited to be a part of the Air Force lacrosse family.”
It’s a vital season for Air Force, one in which it will hope to move on from the disappointment of 2018. With a veteran roster and a legend on the staff, the Falcons aspire to reach the Southern Conference pinnacle once again.
Southern Conference
Richmond
SoCon 6-1, Overall: 11-6
The Spiders returned to the NCAA tournament for the second time in school history last season, taking down Furman and Jacksonville to win the SoCon tournament. Richmond will look to repeat with leading scorer Teddy Hatfield (59 points) returning, along with Ryan Lee (39 points). The challenge will be replacing key seniors on the defensive end.
High Point
SoCon: 6-1, Overall: 6-8
Connor Robinson departs for the Panthers after leading the team with 36 goals. Also gone are stalwart defenseman Terrell Sands (16 caused turnovers) and a handful of other contributors from the successful 2018 SoCon campaign. Asher Nolting is back from an impressive freshman season, where he tallied a team-leading 66 points.
Jacksonville
SoCon 5-2, Overall: 8-7
John Galloway’s program had a strong season in 2018, taking Marquette and Ohio State to the brink and finishing with a winning record. The next step is climbing through the SoCon tournament to an NCAA tournament berth. The Dolphins return four of their top five scorers, including Eric Applegate (23 goals, 20 assists).
Furman
SoCon: 4-3, Overall: 4-10
The Paladins did not win a game outside of conference last season, but had a strong showing in the SoCon. Leading scorer David Williamson is back after scoring 27 goals in 2018. Furman will welcome back a veteran group, with only one defensive starter and just 35 points gone to graduation.
Bellarmine
SoCon: 2-5, Overall: 4-9
New head coach Jim Mitchell will usher in a new era of Bellarmine lacrosse after Kevin Burns was relieved of his duties in the midst of the 2018 season. Much of the Bellarmine offense returns, including Morgan Macko and Landon Trout.
Mercer
SoCon 2-5, Overall: 4-10
Mercer did not qualify for the SoCon tournament last season, and it will lose a key cog in middie Scott Baird, who led the team with 22 goals and 13 assists along with 26 ground balls.
VMI
SoCon 0-7, Overall: 2-11
Ryan Perouty, the freshman from Houston, comes back for a sophomore year after leading the team with 29 goals. Also back in facecoff man AJ Krstulovic, who won almost 60 percent of his faceoffs last year.