Dana M. Lyon on The James Breslo Show - 28 June 2022

GUEST OVERVIEW: Two-time NCAA javelin champion and Academy record holder Dana (Pounds) Lyon is in her fifth season as an assistant coach for the Air Force track and field team. Lyon, who joined the coaching staff in October 2017 after four years in the Academy’s strength and conditioning department, oversees coaching duties for the Air Force throwers, as well as managing the strength and conditioning program for the full squad. Although her first season coaching the full complement of throws was shortened by the cancellation of the outdoor season, Lyon still saw her two of her athletes impact the Academy’s all-time standings during the indoor season, as Meghan Carbiener accounted for the fifth-best women’s weight throw distance in Academy history (54’10¾”) and Jaret Prete broke the men’s Freshman Class Record in that event four times, en route to a fourth-place throw of 57’3½” at the Mountain West Indoor Championships. Last season, Nick Oesterling was an NCAA Qualifier in the javelin throw and three throwers earned all-conference honors at the MW Outdoor Championships, while Hayden Bullock (180’9” in the discus, fifth) and Prete (193’1” in the hammer, eighth) debuted on Air Force’s Outdoor Top 10 and Addyson Smith improved her all-time standing in the shot put, weight throw and hammer throw multiple times during the year. Lyon spent her first two seasons on staff focusing on the javelin. She saw four different athletes qualify to the NCAA West Preliminary during those two years, while Parker Spearman picked up a pair of runner-up finishes at the MW Outdoor Championships and the men accounted for four of the top six finishes in that event at the 2018 championship. Lyon also helped Spearman improve to No. 2 on the Academy’s all-time standings (228’4”), while five teammates also surpassed the 200-foot barrier. On the women’s side, Lyon coached Liz Jarvis to the 10th-best distance in program history (143’8”). Lyon, who graduated from USAFA in 2006 with a degree in systems engineering management, captured back-to-back NCAA titles in the javelin, was a three-time All-American, three-time MW champion and three-time all-conference selection. As a senior, she registered an Academy- and conference-record throw of 195'8" -- a distance that also accounted for the best collegiate throw in the nation during the 2006 season. In addition to her achievements against NCAA competition, Lyon captured a pair of titles at the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Championships during that span. Following graduation, Lyon served two terms on the Air Force World Class Athlete Program (2006-08, 2012-14). She claimed the national title in the javelin at the 2007 USATF Outdoor Championships and capped that year with a fourth-place finish at the Pan Am Games and a spot on the World Championship team in Osaka, Japan. In addition, Lyon was the runner-up at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials – finishing just two inches shy of making the Olympic Team. Lyon, who spent the 2014-17 seasons as an assistant strength and conditioning coach and Physical Education instructor at the Academy, separated from the Air Force in 2017 to pursue a full-time coaching career with the Falcons. A certified strength and conditioning specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), Lyon worked with men's and women's cross country, women's basketball and women's soccer during those years in the strength and conditioning department, while also assisting with men's and women's track and field. She helped train members of four Mountain West championship teams (three track and field, one cross country) and 12 All-Americans. Prior to returning to the Academy, she served as an acquisitions officer (2008-10 at Hill AFB, Utah; 2012-14 at Peterson AFB, Colo.) and completed one combat tour in Afghanistan (2013). Lyon, who received a master's in sports business/management administration from Liberty University in 2014, is a member of the Air Force Athletics Hall of Fame’s Class of 2015.