Ohio State University 2256 Morehead University Men 2211 The University of Akron 2188 Rose Hulman 2172 Morehead Women 2135 Oshkosh Wisconsin 2071 University of Madison Kansas City 2041 University of Michigan 1941The University of Akron smallbore rifle team posted the below listed scores:
Dan Wytko 559 (season and career high score) Jaime Fox 554 (season high score) Melissa Meglich 544 (season high score) Christy Heilman 531Firing as individuals:
Jason Smith 544 (season high score) Jim Cushing 532 (season high score)The University of Akron air rifle team posted the below listed scores:
Jaime Fox 370 (season and career high score) Dan Wytko 367 (season and career high score) Christy Heilman 365 Jim Cushing 344Firing as individuals:
Melissa Meglich 353 Jason Smith 348Coach Engle's Comments: This is a fitting conclusion to a fantastic season for the team. We started the season with the loss of our top two shooters from last year, but the team pulled together and managed to improve on every aspect from the previous year. Dan Wytko and Melissa Meglich started on the team this year as freshmen. Both were recruited to attend UA as members of the shooting team. The experience they gained prior to college is evidenced by the outstanding scores they attained through the season. They started out running and never looked back, and their scores reflected this. Christy Heilman, Jason Smith and Jim Cushing made this their second season with the UA team. Christy was the team scoring leader for most of the matches this season. She brings a couple of years of junior shooting experience to the team and with a second year of college experience under her belt, she is a contender to continue to lead the team. Despite having no formal competitive experience prior to college, both Jim and Jason have really turned on this year. The tremendous amount of natural raw talent, combined with an unmeasurable amount of determination have put Jim and Jason in a competitive position for next year's team. Third-year shooter Jaime Fox also came to UA as a recruited shooter with competitive experience. As one of our top shooters it was rewarding to see Jaime reach one of her personal goals by firing an air rifle score of 370 for her final match of the season. This goal was achieved only two weeks after shooting her career-high smallbore score at the NCAA sectionals. I can not begin to articulate how very proud I am of every member of this team, and I can not wait till the season begins next year. A very realistic goal for this team is to set its sights no lower than getting an invitation to the NCAA championships.
After the championship match was concluded the WIRC held an awards banquet to recognize the top shooters. UA freshman Dan Wytko was recognized for earning a position on the second "All Conference Team." Dan worked very hard this season and I am pleased to see him recognized for his outstanding efforts. Awards were also given to shooters who fired scores at the championship match which were above the shooters' year-long average. UA shooters recognized were Jaime Fox (1st place), Dan Wytko (2nd), Jason Smith (7th) and Jim Cushing (8th). Coach Newt Engle was honored by being voted as "Coach of the Year" in the Western Intercollegiate Rifle Conference. This was a big surprise to me and I must give the credit to the outstanding athletes on this team who showed considerable improvement throughout the season.