COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Regis University Department of Athletics was honored to celebrate one Hall of Fame inductee and eight award winners during the 18^th annual Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet, hosted at the Colorado Springs Marriott and emceed by former Voice of the Rangers, Justin Adams.

Hall of Fame Induction: Lonnie Porter

Regis icon Lonnie Porter, inducted in the RMAC Hall of Fame for his playing career at Adams State in 2004, stamped his name in RMAC lore as a head coach inductee, following his decorated 38 years with the Regis Rangers from 1977 through 2015.

Porter coached in a staggering 1,041 games with the Rangers and departed in 2015 as the program's all-time wins leader with 538, including the 1977-78 RMAC championship. Porter was named the RMAC Coach of the Year that season; one of five conference Coach of the Year honors he'd win during his career between the Rangers' time with the RMAC and former Colorado Athletic Conference (CAC).

While he not only successfully led a plethora of Regis men's basketball programs to new heights, he also shaped his student-athletes into great men. In his 38 years with Regis athletics, Porter achieved an overall graduation rate of 94 percent; a statistic Porter stated he was more proud of than his 538 wins.
 
In addition to his coaching duties at Regis, Porter was extremely active in the Denver metro community. He created the Lonnie Porter Leadership Academy, which has since been renamed the Porter-Billups Leadership Academy, following a partnership with NBA legend Chauncey Billups in 2006. The mission of the organization is to assist at-risk students with academic and leadership potential to successfully graduate from high school and have the opportunity to attend college. Once admitted, students who complete the academy and are subsequently granted full-tuition scholarships to Regis University.
 
Unfortunately, Coach Porter was unable to attend the event Friday. Barb Schroeder, the former Director of Athletics at Regis from 1995-2010, accepted the award on Porter's behalf.

"It was a thrill for me to be able to accept this for him. He's a special person not just to me, but the thousands of his players and student-athletes across Regis who he impacted during his 38 years there," Schroeder said. "He is the kind of person who always has time for other people, doesn't matter their lot in life might be or what they need. He's going to make time and he's going to do the right thing by them and for them. I think he epitomizes everything Regis University is about and stands for."

RMAC Man of the Year: Nick Mootz

Established in 2017, the RMAC Man of the Year Award honors graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their college career in areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, community service and leadership.

Regis senior Nick Mootz exemplified those attributes during his three years with the Regis men's soccer program, starting all 36 games of his career with the Rangers. He finished with two career goals and anchored the team's backline defense in 2020 and 2021.

An impactful piece for the Rangers on the field, Mootz was arguably even more impressive in the classroom and community. He ended his career as a three-time RMAC All-Academic selection, and a 2020 CoSIDA Second Team Academic All-American, after maintaining a spotless 4.0 grade-point average as a Biology major, with an emphasis in genetics and a minor in chemistry.

Mootz served as the President of the Regis' Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) in 2021 and 2022, all while dedicating hundreds of hours to health research and community service projects.

Over his three years at Regis, Mootz amassed over 275 volunteer hours at Colorado RSVP Clinic Scribe, University of Colorado Anschutz STICU Department, Shrine's Orthopedic Children's Hospital, Brookdale Hospice, and ICAN; a summer program providing out of school activities for at risk youth. He also accumulated 250 hours shadowing in various doctors' offices and surgery centers around the Denver, 300 hours interning at the CU Anschutz center for Surgical Innovation, 200 hours at a Student Research Assistant at National Jewish Seibold Lab, and 500 hours performing Sleep Study research through the Regis Biology Department.

Mootz, voted the Regis University 2021-22 Crest Club Award winner, plans on attending medical school in the fall.

RMAC Baseball Coach of the Year: Drew LaComb

The 2022 spring was a historic one for the Rangers, under the guidance of third-year head coach Drew LaComb. Regis posted an overall record of 27-24-1 and a 20-12 mark in the RMAC en route to finishing in second place in the conference regular season standings; the highest finish for the Rangers since joining the RMAC in 1997.

Regis would see three student-athletes earn RMAC All-Conference honors in senior pitcher Justin Kleinsorge, graduate student Roger Riley and junior Colten Chase.

Academically, the 2021-22 Rangers squad also shined off the diamond as 21 different players earned RMAC All-Academic awards (requiring a GPA of 3.30 or higher) while, collectively, the team was named the 2021-22 RMAC Brechler Award winners for the highest baseball team GPA among conference members.

"I think this award is just a testament to the people we have in our program this year. We had great players and great assistant coaches that brought a lot of value to our program," LaComb said. "Our players bought in to what we were trying to do and moved this program in a positive direction. We were able to accomplish some things that we haven't done before and the award just symbolizes how good our team was this year. It's an honor to win and hopefully there are a couple more because then that means we're going to have even better teams moving forward.

RMAC Women's Lacrosse Coach of the Year: Sarah Kellner
The architect of a lacrosse powerhouse, Coach Kellner took home her fifth career RMAC Coach of the Year honors (2014, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022), including her third consecutive award dating back to 2019.
 
Regis continued its recent run of dominance again this past spring, ranking as high as No. 3 in the country and cruising to an undefeated regular season en route to the RMAC season and tournament championships. The Rangers would finish the campaign with a 17-1 overall record — 19-1 after including two forfeit wins — and with the program's fifth trip to the NCAA tournament since 2017.

The Rangers currently boast a 71.2% win percentage during Coach Kellner's 16 year tenure (173-70).
 
Brechler Awards: Baseball, Softball, Men's Cross Country, Women's Lacrosse and Women's Soccer

The Brechler Awards are named in honor of Paul W. Brechler, a former RMAC commissioner (1976-90), and his wife Wanda Brechler, are awarded each year to the teams that compile the highest grade-point average (GPA) for each of the conference's 21 sponsored sports. Each team's GPA is calculated by dividing the total quality points by the total number of credits for each semester. Team GPAs are submitted to the RMAC office by each institution's compliance administrator.
 
Regis Athletics finished second among all conference members with five team winners, boasting the highest team GPA in baseball (3.433), women's lacrosse (3.577), men's cross country (3.634), women's soccer (3.639) and softball (3.680).
 
For Regis softball, the 2021-22 award marked the seventh straight year the Rangers have taken home the honor.

"It makes our department proud to see five Regis teams earn Brechler Awards. It's a testament to the commitment and dedication our student-athletes have to not only their respective sports, but to their academics," said Kate Whalen, Interim Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator. "It's also a credit to our coaches, the faculty and staff we have at Regis, and the support systems in place, that help provide student-athletes support to be successful."