Male: Our male athlete of the month is junior wrestler Brandon Lucero. Brandon is in his first year of wrestling at Air Academy, and he is off to a great start. Wrestling in the 145 pound weight class, Brandon is currently ranked 6th in the state. Through all of the meets the team has competed in this year, Brandon has placed 6th or better. Brandon’s success extends far beyond this year at Air  Academy, however. This summer, Brandon competed in several large tournaments. He competed in 3 national tournaments, and won two of them, both in the greco category. Brandon also competed in and won two state tournaments, one in the freestyle category, and the other in greco. There is no doubt that Brandon is working towards the state tournament, where he will look not only to compete, but to win, and his large amount of tournament experience will undoubtedly help. When asked about his experience with Air Academy wrestling, Brandon said, “the whole team has been working really hard this year, and I can’t wait to compete for a title.”

Female: Our female athlete of the month is senior swimmer Samantha Steigerwald. Throughput her final season at Air Academy, Samantha has dominated the waters. Samantha swims multiple events for the Kadets, including the 50 free, 100 free, 100 fly, 200 free, 500 free, and is a member of three relay teams, including the 200 free relay, the 200 medley relay (in which she swims butterfly) and the 400 free relay. Samantha holds the team’s best time of the season for every event she swims, with the exception of the 200 free relay, which holds the second best time on the team. Along with all of the glamorous statistics, Samantha is also the anchor of both the free relay teams, with exemplifies her dominance in the water as well as her strong leadership. There’s no doubt that Samantha is looking forward to state. “I’m definitely looking forward to the state meet. I think we have a good chance to do well, because the team has gotten a lot stronger over the past year.” While Samantha is looking forward to the team aspect of things, she is certainly in contention for some titles of her own.