Purdue News
Purdue News
Club teams are composed of team members from the same university, while open teams have members from several universities.
Purdue teams now have won all of the collegiate trap and skeet national championships held this year. And for the second year in a row, Purdue shooters hold all eight positions on the 1997 National Rifle Association's All-American Shotgun Team.
"This is an incredible accomplishment by a club-sports team competing against the nation's best varsity and military teams," said Purdue coach Chuck Rhykerd.
The Grand American World Trapshooting Championships is what the World Series is to baseball. It is the largest shooting event in the world. Each August, the Amateur Trapshooting Association hosts these world championships at its headquarters in Vandalia, Ohio. The shooting range, the largest in the world, consists of 100 traps extending 1.75 miles along the south edge of the Dayton International Airport. Nearly 35,000 trapshooters from around the world annually compete in the various trap events conducted over the 10-day period.
Purdue's club team established a new collegiate record at the Grand American by breaking 988 out of 1,000 targets. The previous record of 978/1,000 was shot by Purdue in 1993. Penn State University was this year's runner-up club team champion with a score of 965/1,000.
Purdue's open team broke 973 of 1,000 targets to win the Open Team Championship. Scoring on this squad was led by Dave Huffman, who shot a perfect score (200/200). He is a former Purdue student who now attends Indiana University-Purdue University at Columbus . Purdue freshman Justin Myers of Fowler, Ill., broke 186 of his 200 targets. He will major in history and is a member of the Junior All-American Trap Team.
Other members of the open team were Amy Matz from Iowa , Craig Schmitt from Kansas , and Thomas Zahn from North Dakota .
Matt McGraw, a Purdue senior in agricultural economics from Connersville, Ind. , shot the highest score on Purdue's club team. He missed only one of his 200 targets. The second-highest score, 198/200, was shot by John Voliva, a fourth-year pharmacy student from Evansville, Ind. He is president of the Purdue Trap and Skeet Club and was named to the Collegiate All-American Shotgun Team in 1996 and 1997.
The other three members of Purdue's club team all broke a score of 197/200. These shooters were: T.J. Arvas Jr., a sophomore in management from Albuquerque, N.M. ; Bryan Nemec, a junior in industrial technology from Naperville, Ill. ; and Andy Suda, a junior in mechanical engineering from Grafton, N.D. Arvas, Nemec and Suda were also members of the 1997 All-American Shotgun Team.
In addition to the championships at the Grand American, Purdue teams won all four of the team national championships at the 1997 Association of College Unions-International Clay Target Championships: Olympic Trap, Olympic Skeet, American Trap and American Skeet. This is the first time that teams from one university have won all six of these annual trap and skeet national championships, Rhykerd said.
Purdue trap and skeet shooters were named to all eight positions on the 1997 National Rifle Association's All-American Shotgun Team. Selection is based on academic as well as shooting achievements. This is the second consecutive year that the entire All-American Shotgun Team has been from Purdue.
The 1997 All-Americans, in addition to Voliva, Arvas, Nemec and Suda, are: Steve Shillington, a May graduate in agricultural engineering from Old Bridge N.J. ; Tony Colletti, a junior in computer technology from Lake Villa. Ill. ; Danny Ficocello, a sophomore in computer science from Batavia, Ill. ; and Kirby Woods, a May graduate in agricultural engineering from Odell, Ill.
Rhykerd, professor emeritus of agronomy and former associate director of International Programs in Agriculture, has served as volunteer coach of the Purdue teams since the Trap and Skeet Club was chartered in 1977. Purdue teams now have won 54 national and world championships. In 1991, Rhykerd was named "Coach of the Year" by the National Rifle Association.
Purdue's trap and skeet shooters practice at the George Haniford Trap and Skeet Range located in the gravel pit adjacent to the campus. The range is operated by Trap and Skeet Club members and is open on weekends during the school year.
Purdue's Trap and Skeet Club is one of 23 club sports available to Purdue students. Membership varies from 30 to 60 students per semester. Members pay all their own expenses, but Purdue provides transportation to competitions. Purdue shotgun teams compete in more than 20 state, regional, national and world championship events annually.
Source: Charles L. Rhykerd, (765) 494-0819; e-mail, clr@admin.agad.purdue.edu
Writer: Frank Koontz, (765) 494-2080;E-mail, frank_koontz@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
