Purdue News
Purdue News
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June 12, 1998
Purdue shooters win third ACUI championshipWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- For the third consecutive year, Purdue University's Trap and Skeet Club teams have defeated the nation's best varsity and military teams at the ACUI Intercollegiate Clay Target National Championships.Purdue's shooters won the high overall team championship, two of five team championships, and five individual national championships. In addition, nine Purdue shooters were named All-Americans, and three Purdue shooters were awarded $1,000 scholarships. The 1998 championships were held in San Antonio. The Association of College Unions International (ACUI) sanctions collegiate championships in sports not sanctioned by the NCAA. The ACUI clay target championships are comprised of five events: Olympic trap, Olympic skeet, American trap, American skeet and sporting clays. Purdue was team national champion in Olympic trap and American trap and runner-up national champion in the other three events. Purdue was high overall team champion, breaking 94 more targets out of 2,350 than did the runner-up national champion, George Mason University. In addition to the three team national championships, Purdue won five individual national championships.
Purdue students won all three $1,000 scholarships that are awarded annually at the ACUI championships. A scholarship is awarded to the high individual in sporting clays (Carroccio), the individual with the highest combined scores in the two trap events (Suda) and the individual with the highest combined scores in the two skeet events (Colletti). The National Rifle Association's 1998 All-American Shotgun Team was announced in San Antonio. Membership on the All-American Shotgun Team is based on academic standing as well as performance in sanctioned clay target competition. Purdue had a record number of nine shooters named to the 1998 All-American Shotgun Team: Arvas, Colletti and Suda, plus Danny Ficocello, a sophomore in computer science from Batavia, Ill.; Jeff Finn, a senior in mechanical engineering from Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Damon Hovannisian, a junior in restaurant, hotel, institutional and tourism management from Fresno, Calif.; Matt McGraw, a senior in agricultural economics from Connersville, Ind.; Bryan Nemec, a senior in institutional technology from Naperville, Ill.; and John Voliva, a fourth-year student in pharmacy from Evansville, Ind. Dave Guaresimo, a senior in mechanical engineering from Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich., also earned a gold medal as a member of Purdue's national champion American trap team. The Purdue Trap and Skeet Club is one of 24 sport clubs at Purdue that are a part of the Division of Recreational Sports. Members of club sports teams pay all their own expenses, and coaches and advisers are volunteers. The club was chartered in 1978. Charles L. Rhykerd, professor emeritus of agronomy, has served as faculty adviser and coach the past 20 years. In 1991, Rhykerd was named Collegiate Coach of the Year by the National Rifle Association. The club now has won a total of 64 national and world championships.
Source: Charles L. Rhykerd, (765) 463-6486; e-mail, crhykerd@agad.purdue.edu
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