COLIN O’CONNOR: Great Falls resident Colin O’Connor played in four games during the football season for the U.S. Naval Academy team. The sophomore defensive back accounted for six tackles and two assists. He also was a special-teams player on kickoffs, kickoff return and punt teams.
O’Connor’s playing time was limited because he suffered a shoulder injury. He did not play in the Army-Navy game.
O’Connor is a graduate of Gonzaga College High School and a former Vienna Youth Inc. Player of the Year in football. He was a three-sport athlete at Gonzaga.
At one point during the season, O’Connor, who wears uniform No. 13 for Navy, received a challenge coin from chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, because he wore the number 13, the same as a former Navy player who was killed in December during a training accident.
JUSTICE ELLISON: Flint Hill School graduate Justice Ellison ran for 541 yards and rushed for seven touchdowns as a freshman runningback for the Wake Forest University football team during the fall. He was the team’s second leading rusher.
Ellison also caught seven passes for 37 yards and one touchdown during the season.
He had a 27-yard scoring run in Wake Forest’s victory over Rutgers in the Gator Bowl. In total, the 5-foot-10 Ellison rushed for 59 yards on nine carries in that win.
JAMAL MELVIN: Potomac School graduate Jamal Melvin is a sophomore backup forward on the men’s basketball team at the University of Northern Colorado.
In six games this season, Melvin averages 2.2 points per game, has 10 rebounds and two blocked shots.