After four successful years in high school lacrosse, Bryan Gilbreath is making a name for himself in college lacrosse.

Gilbreath, a 2007 graduate of Bainbridge High School, was recently named the Air Force Rookie of the Year for his play for the Academy this season.

The freshman played all 12 games for the Falcons this season as a defender, starting 11 of them.

He finished third on the team with 38 ground balls and finished tied for second in caused turnovers with nine.

He also scored two goals on three shots on goal on the year, with one of them coming in a man-down situation.

Out of ten freshman that were on the team, only a few played consistently well for Air Force this season and were considered for the award.

“I thought I had a chance,” Gilbreath said in a phone interview from the Academy’s location in Colorado Springs, Colo.

“There were three or four freshman that were really good and contributed to the team, and I was the one that came up” in selection for the award.

A standout athlete in high school, Gilbreath was a four-year letterwinner for the Spartan lacrosse team.

He was a two-time Division I All-State first team selection on defense, earning All-American honors for his play in his senior year as he helped Bainbridge to an undefeated season and its first state title in several years.

Gilbreath was also lauded on the gridiron, as he earned All-Metro honors on both sides of the ball and was named to the Associated Press’ all-state football team on both sides as well his senior year.

While all the awards don’t guarantee success at the NCAA level, Gilbreath said he’s had a good time learning how things work to make that success happen.

“It’s a lot of fun,” he said. “To go from the high school level to the college level, the biggest adjustment I’ve had to make was the speed (of the game), but once I got used to that, I hit the ground running.”

Gilbreath said he earned his starting spot by working hard in practice and impressing the coaches.

But when he did make his first appearance on a college lacrosse field, he said the butterflies were there.

“It was pretty nerve-wracking,” he said. “To actually get out there and play with high-caliber players, I was nervous but I felt confident with my skills that I could play well.”

Air Force finished its season at 3-9, but Gilbreath said that record doesn’t reflect how they played.

“We usually play really tough teams,” he said, noting that they had several ranked teams on the calendar, including Ohio State, Maryland and Notre Dame who all made it to the quarterfinals of the national tournament. “Our coach (Fred Acee) gets good teams for us to play. If we played terrible teams we’d be undefeated.”

Along with the changes on the field, there’s also the changes off the field as well.

Gilbreath, who is thinking about majoring in systems engineering management or behavioral sciences, said with all the homework, classes, practice and military duties he must do, he often spends days going for “16-17 hours, from 6:50 in the morning to midnight.

“It’s a big switch,” he said. “There’s a lot of running around.

“The good thing about it is it makes the year go by really fast,” he said. “Sometimes I think about (being homesick) but when you’re focused on your objective, you don’t have time to think about anything else.”

And Gilbreath wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

“I love it here,” he said. “It’s real tough, which I like, and the team is awesome. I love all the guys.

“Sometimes I might have a bad day, but when I go down to practice they always put smiles on my faces.

With the arrival of several new faces and a junior class ready to take control and lead the team, Gilbreath said he’s expecting “really great things” for the team next season – which includes getting to play with his brother Dayton again.

“He should have a real good chance of starting,” he said. “It’s going to be awesome. It’s like having a little piece of home (with me).

“Every time I play with him, it’ll feel like I’m back at Bainbridge.”