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Olympian Kip Simons enters his fifth season as the head coach of the Air Force Academy men's gymnastics team. Simons came to the Academy in 2005, after spending five seasons on the coaching staff for the California-Berkeley men's gymnastics program. "Coaching at the Air Force Academy is a dream job," Simons said. "There is nothing more rewarding than to see my athletes maximize their potential as gymnasts and then go on to become the best pilots in the nation." In just four years, Simons had accumulated several coaching accolades. In 2006, he was voted as the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Coach of the Year. Following the 2008 season, he was selected as the USAG Coach of the Year and the NCAA West Region Coach of the Year. Last season, he guided Jake Schonig to his second straight USAG title on the still rings, as well as a place among the national finalists for the Nissen-Emery award. Six of Simons' gymnasts, including a pair of freshmen, earned spots at the NCAA Championships, while five claimed USAG All-America accolades. Two individual program records and three team records were set during the 2009 campaign. During the 2008 season, he coached Greg Stine to the Academy's first NCAA All-America certificate in 15 years, as Stine claimed top-eight honors at the NCAA Championships in the all-around and on the still rings. As a team, Air Force claimed a third-place finish at the USAG Collegiate Championships. Individually, Stine (all-around, parallel bars) and Schonig (still rings) claimed USAG titles, while four Falcons accounted for eight USAG All-America honors. "Here at the Air Force Academy, I apply the same work-ethic that took me to the Olympic Games to mold my cadets into future leaders of character," he said. Prior to his appointment at the Academy, Simons spent five seasons with the Cal Bears. He was an assistant coach from 2001-05 and then held the title of associate head coach for the final year of his stay in Berkeley. During his tenure at Cal, the Bears finished within the top-two at the MPSF Championships every year, winning the conference title in 2004. Simons helped guide Cal to a pair of third-place finishes at the NCAA Championships and coached 19 top-10 finishers, including four national champions. Simons began his collegiate-level coaching career following a stellar career at both the collegiate and national levels. In 1988, Simons dominated the U.S. Junior National Championships and the Junior Pan-American Games, collecting 10 gold medals. During a successful college career at Ohio State, Simons earned numerous honors throughout his four years, including the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and the Nissen-Emery Award, which is given to the nation's top senior gymnast. A native of Bloomsburg, Pa., he was a four-year member of the All-Big 10 team, while earning four Big 10 Conference titles on the parallel bars (1992, 1994), still rings (1992) and high bar (1993). In addition, Simons picked up two NCAA All-America certificates, as the Buckeyes finished third at the national meet during each of his last three seasons. Following his collegiate career, Simons competed on two world championship teams, as well as the gold-medal winning teams at the 1994 Goodwill Games and the 1995 Pan-American Games. He also represented the United States as a member of the 1996 Olympic team that finished fifth at the Atlanta Games. "I am able to draw on my 10-year national and international competitive career as the foundation to building my program," Simons continued. "Having the Olympic Training Center in our backyard is a huge asset to this program. Our coaching staff continues to stay up-to-date on the most current training and competitive strategies." In September 2006, Simons was one of 12 Ohio State alumni inducted into the OSU Athletics Hall of Fame by the Varsity "O" Association. Simons was married in May 2009 to the former Kim Rich of Columbus, Ohio. |
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