Zipsrifle

Was I sitting on my hands???? I just thought that was the broken bleachers under me, but I guess it was my frozen hands. I was very impressed with the turnout, especially with the crappy weather. With performances like that, there won't be enough of a home crowd to make substantial noise in the future.

The Rifle team got it's first win of the season, defeating 8 other schools ( including several Big Ten Schools) to defend it's Boilermaker Invite title. Though the overall scores were a bit low in SB, the team depth kept the bottom from falling out. As a testiment to the depth Newt has to choose from, the Akron Blue team (2nd team) actually had a higher smallbore score than the Akron Gold Team (1st team). Also, the top 9 SB shooters on the Akron squads were separated by 10 points. Air rifle on the other hand seems a bit more stable. The scores are inching higher for the top shooters and this is what put the Zips over the top. The Gold team won the match with air rifle. The team seems to be inching towards the magic 2300 mark. Pretty much if you want to compete for the National Championship at the end of the year, you need to be above 2300 in both diciplines to have a shot at the end of the year. Hopefully some solid front runners will emerge in smallbore so Newt will have an easier time of picking teams. Oh, yea, I can't over-emphasize the fact that this team is EXTREMELY young. They are really doing an outstanding job and WILL continue to improve. Just need to move those comfort levels up a bit. Good job Gals and Guys. Zip Win Boilermaker Invitational PRESS RELEASE Date: October 22, 2005 Location: Purdue University Event: The Boilermaker Invitational Zips Sharpshooters win the Boilermaker Last year the Akron squad brought home the Boilermaker Invitational Rifle Tournament trophy for the first time. Despite loosing four high scoring seniors to graduation, the Zips again are bringing home this prestigious award. Akron fired a 4520 out of a possible 4800 to top the list of the 13 other teams represented at the tournament. In smallbore the Zips stumbled and nearly gave away the match. Coach Newt Engle states, “That was certainly ugly, but we are lucky to have such a deep pool of talented athletes who can help when times get tough.†And in this pool of talent sophomore Megan Reinking and freshman Michael Tokarz tied each other at 566 while both shooting personal best scores. Their efforts helped keep the Zips in contention going into the air rifle division. Worth noting was the impressive performance of up-and-coming freshman Adam Hyde who set his new personal best (554) at this tournament. The air rifle division was all Akron. Freshman Melissa Lussier lead the way posting a 579 out of a possible 600. Giving her the support needed for the win was Megan Reinking and Michael Tokarz who tied each other again with dueling 573’s. April Engle completed the 4 person Gold team with her season high 564. “We continue to be a very impressive team with the air rifleâ€, states Coach Engle, “If we are dong this now, I am very optimistic about what we will be doing with just a little more experience.†The Zips will need all the experience they can muster this coming Saturday October 29th, when they square off against the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London Connecticut. This match will be the seasons first test of the Zips in the Mid Atlantic Rifle Conference by an other masters level MAC member. Smallbore Rifle Scores: *Gold team, ** Blue team 566** Michael Tokarz 566* Megan Reinking 562** Cristina Ciarula 561** Stephanie Elmore 557* Julie DeBrita 556* Melissa Lussier 554 Adam Hyde 552* Laura Kuntz 552** April Engle 526 Ben Soehnlen DNF Christine Fortunato 2231 Akron “Gold†Smallbore Team Total 2241 Akron “Blue†Smallbore Team Total ============================================================== Air Rifle Individual Scores: *Gold team, ** Blue team 579* Melissa Lussier 573* Michael Tokarz 573* Megan Reinking 568** Stephanie Elmore 564* April Engle 551** Cristina Ciarula 548** Laura Kuntz 546** Julie DeBrita 540 Ben Soehnlen 518 Adam Hyde DNF Christine Fortunato 2289 Akron “Gold†Air Rifle Team Total 2213 Akron “Blue†Air Rifle Team Total

I'm in for Fergie. So what if Luke was promised the position or if he won it in practice. This isn't practice, it's gametime and outside of the few series Fergie played in Miami, we haven't seen anything of him. I say, put him in, see how he does. It can't be much worse than it is now!

I'm totally frustrated right now. Don't know what to say. Was Rohr the only guy playing out there last night? Our "New, fast Defense" was getting out run last night. Then, Army was getting 4-5 yards every run up the middle. I'm glad the Army QB cound't hit anyone long or we would have lost 34-0. I think Hixon is gunshy on punt returns. I don't know if it's because he got beat up the first few games or if he's worried about fumbling it. Biggs is slow, but always gives a good second effort. The OL can't open holes so he has to try the corner, which doesn't work. The OL also can't pass protect. Getsy, well, any progress we was making before is all but gone now. He sucks! I'm all for Jabari or Ferguson going in now. Getsy had about 10 chances to tuck the ball and make a break for it. Instead, he makes some crappy sidearm throw that looks like a 5 year old threw it. IMO, he's more worried about gettting hit than winning the game. The passes that aren't hitting the ground 10 yards in front of the receivers are floating through the air. I would favor Ferguson right now because of his arm and that he'll actually throw over the middle. Jabari isn't showing me a lot at WR, so why do I give him a shot at QB? If we want to win any more games this year, we need a shakeup. I honestly think we may be one of the worst teams in the country right now.

I accept this tropy on behalf of Syracuse University..... I was there with Peggy too. Couldn't even pay to repair the concrete steps in front of the Student Center, just blocked them off. LP comes in and rips out the steps AND the student center! :blink: That guy is flat out amazing! I've read about some of the other things he's working on. He's the kind of guy that can throw an entire city on his back and carry it to greater things! I don't think it's possible to replace LP! I think we should name the stadium after him.

Sorry to see him go, but can’t say we didn’t think it would happen. We all know we’re a stepping stone. IMO, Cincy is just a bigger stepping stone. Thanks Mike for a truly outstanding job! You really turned this program around! BTW, I think the stadium won’t slow down. Proenza is behind it and he’ll keep it going. He knows how important it is to the University. One more thing, I saw a blog through the ABJ and the guy (Rasor) brought up some good points. Why is Thomas leaving? Sure Cincy has a good BB team, but our FB team is at least as good as theirs, our BB team looks to be nearly as good, we’ve got the #1 Soccer team in the country too. Obviously Cincy is a bigger name and I’ll bet Thomas thinks he can turn that program around pretty quickly, then jump to the next job.

Someone said it before, but in doing a little homework myself, I don't feel too good about the game this weekend. Look at their schedule: #19 BC 44-7 Baylor 20-10 #22 Iowa 28-21 UConn 47-13 CMU 14-10 #25 TCU 38-17 It looks like CMU was able to shut down their passing game. They seem to get about 150 yds per game on the ground and maybe 200 through the air. We'll need to do something. They've played a MUCH harder schedule we have and have quite a few close calls. I'll tell you what, I think these guys are definately looking at Akron as their first win! Oh, one more thing, The Akron crowd needs to cheer just as hard for the Army as the Zips when they are announced. These guys are going to be defending our country and will probably have more class and dicipline than any other team we'll play.

Attached below is the press release from the match this past weekend. The Zips lost by a scant 2 points. How close of a score is that....well, when a team can get a maximum of 4800 points...that's pretty darn close. Though this was a loss, there are many more positives than negatives here. First, Xavier finished 6th in the nation last year. For those who have been around a while, you'll remember that Xavier University decided that Rifle would no longer be a Varsity sport, though it was the only program at Xavier competing for a National Championship nearly every year. Nevertheless, the shooters at the match this past weekend were with the Xavier Rifle CLUB and are the same ones that finished in 6th place last season. For the Zips to lose by two points shows right off the bat we've got a contender. Second, the Zips appear to have had a stellar recruiting year in that the several of the top shooters this past match were Freshman! Melissa Lussier was overall Match Winner! I was amazed at the dept last year, but having 3 freshman put up top scores really says something. Third, in air rifle, the Zips beat Xavier at their specialty. Xavier has long been one of the elite in the air rifle dicipline. What a boost in confidence as the Zips beat Xavier in Air Rifle by a close 5 points! Finally, and most importantly, the Zips actually had more than enough points to beat Xavier this past weekend, but coach didn't have all the top shooters on the same team. The Zips would have won by more than 20 points if the top shooters were all on the first team. Can't really blame coach though. He has to pick the teams prior to the match, and there's no subs. Someone can be shooting the lights out in practice, but if they come in and have an off day, you're stuck. He put many of the freshman on the 2nd team and had some of the more experienced shooters on the first team. There is also a LOT of competition within a team, so it is common to have many shooters posting similar scores. It would be nice if 4 shooters could pull away from the pack, but lots of competition within the team will only drive the scores higher. Nice job Gals and Guys....Keep it UP! PRESS RELEASE Date: October 15, 2005 Location: The University of Akron Event: Akron -vs- Xavier University Xavier out shoots Akron at home opener In the Olympic sport of rifle, each shot fired is worth 10 points. Each athlete fires 120 shots for a possible 1200 points. The team consists of 4 athletes who can earn a potential 4800 points. With all these points up for grab, a “close†match is anything less than 20 points. However at this match close was re-defied. Once the competition was over and the numbers tabulated Akron finished an unheard of 2 points behind shooting powerhouse Xavier University of Cincinnati. “From the beginning of the season we have been practicing the one shot match where every single shot is the most important shot the athlete will fire.†states Coach Newt Engle, “Every one of our athletes now has a little better understanding of how true this is.†In the smallbore division freshman sensation Melissa Lussier lead the Zips by earning the crown as the smallbore match champion with a 577 out of a possible 600. And finishing in 4th place at her first collegiate match by firing her best score ever (573) was yet another freshman Julie DeBrita. Coach Engle stated, “Melissa and Julie did an absolutely fantastic job, but as a team we were a little weak in our smallbore performance. Even though Xavier is strongest in air rifle, Akron managed to pull ahead of Xavier in this division. Firing a stellar 586, Melissa Lussier again lead the Zips and earned top match honors. Melissa’s performance at this match ties the school record set by teammate Laura Kuntz back in 2004. New Zip member Michael Tokarz also helped the Zips win the air rifle division by doing a fine job with a 570 at his first match. “We have been shooting nearly a 2300 (team score) with either rifle for the last three weeks,†states coach Engle, “Our task is to start posting 2300(or higher) at the matches. I have every confidence this will be accomplished soon.†The next opportunity for the team to meet the coach’s challenge will come October 22nd when the Zips travel to Purdue University to compete in the Boilermaker invitational. The Zips will be defending their first place finish at this same match last year against up to 10 team from the mid section of the nation. The match will start at 8:00 am in the Purdue Armory. (over) Smallbore Rifle Scores: *Gold team, ** Blue team 577* Melissa Lussier 573** Julie DeBrita 567** Stephanie Elmore 561* Megan Reinking 559* Laura Kuntz 554* Christine Fortunato 548** Cristina Ciarula 547** Adam Hyde 546 Michael Tokarz 545 April Engle 531 Ben Soehnlen 2251 Akron “Gold†Smallbore Team Total 2235 Akron “Blue†Smallbore Team Total ============================================================== Air Rifle Individual Scores: *Gold team, ** Blue team 586* Melissa Lussier Ties School Record! 570* Michael Tokarz 565* Megan Reinking 561* Christine Fortunato 559** April Engle 556** Laura Kuntz 555** Cristina Ciarula 553** Julie DeBrita 542 Stephanie Elmore 526 Ben Soehnlen 516 Adam Hyde 2282 Akron “Gold†Air Rifle Team Total 2223 Akron “Blue†Air Rifle Team Total END Zipsrifle Note: Xavier Smallbore: 2258 Xavier Air Rifle: 2277

Speaking of great starting field position......Miami TOTALLY avoided Hixon on kickoffs. When they had the wind to their back, kicked it deep into the endozone, we started on the 20. When they were kicking into the wind, they kicked it short and we were starting at the 30 or 40. Took Akron right out of their return game. We had great field position with the wind to our backs and couldn't get in fieldgoal range.

UUHHH! I remember that game. We tried to give it away to Can't! It was a miracle we won.

I'm beginning to have doubts as to the coaching staff's ability go adjust as the game goes on. Why can Biggs have a huge yards in the first Q and get shut down after that??? No way the line was tired.

Back in Michigan and I've got to say that GP1 expressed most of my thoughts. I'm going to remphasize a few, bring up a few new ones. First off, they have a GREAT facility down there. Well done Redhawks! The first one is that Miami Expects to beat Akron and Akron hopes to beat Miami. They own us and Miami was at least 14 better than us yesterday. 6 turnovers, you should lose the game. Biggs is a beast. It was great to hear the Sweaters start clapping and then stop when Biggs busted off the side of the pile and headed down field. We rely too much on the big play. D didn't look that great. Miami burned us on timing routes to back us off then threw the occasional run in there. Betts makes bad decisions when under pressure, didn't get that much pressure yesterday. We're too short at CB. Wish the coaching staff would learn how to adjust. Miami did it after the first quarter, CMU did it after the 2nd. We start start out on fire, but can't seem to make adjustments. I don't believe the OL ran out of gas in the 2nd, I just don't think the Coaches came up with the right adjustments. On D, Miami started running timing over the middle that killed us ( for some reason we don't, or won't do this.....see below) As with almost all the games this year, the D ran out of gas in the 4th (Mentally / physically???). I don't know if they were discouraged or just trying too hard to make a big play. Why the hell did we try a long pass at the beginning of the 2nd half??? NEED TO GET GETSY WARMED UP WITH SHORT PASSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Getsy made one step forward yesterday and one step back. He did not have a flurry of severely overthrown or underthrown passes. He made some very bad decisions, but also made some much smarter plays than I've seen out of him before. Example: on one of the many plays he had some serious heat in the pocket , he found Biggs and threw a bullet into the ground in his direction. Everyone knew he was grounding it, but it was close enough the ref's couldn't throw a flag (which they were doing pleanty of). Getsy threw it away pleanty of times when nothing was available. I've given him some heat in the past, but he's making progress. I think he's just trying to make something happen when he gets into trouble. The other thing I've noticed is that Getsy rarely throws over the middle. On the INT in the endzone, Jabari was streaking across the middle but Luke threw it into a sea of red. (Missed Kasparek the exact same way against CMU!!!!) This is now a solid rebuilding year. Refs screwed us again. One personal foul was called a shot to the head or something. On their bigscreen it was obviously a shoulder to the chest. One of the INT's was a CLEAR PUSHOFF by the Miami CB. The ref's didn't lose the game for us though, I just hate it when they don't call it both ways......which is becoming a problem for us in Oxford. Jabari showed some life. In the end it was the 2nd team vs the 2nd team. Fergie has a CANNON, but is slower than Luke and had a few tosses that would have been INT's by the first team. His first pass was a toss over the middle...I didn't think that was in the play book. Fergie looked like a solid leader when he was on the field, poised and in control. I think that it's Fergie's speed that keeps him off the field, though his choices didn't look drastically better than Luke's. We might have a QB Controversy on our hands soon. All in all, it's a rebuilding year. I think the big kickers for me right now are the Coaches making adjustments and the players making bigger improvements week to week. Next week might break the season!!!

Storm the field, what's that???

Who's going to the game? I'll be there, though the group I was going with will be a little smaller than I expected. Go Zips!

See that thing at the end of the sentence? It's called a question mark (?). I didn't say that JD was playing Getsy because he promised him, I was simply offering it up as a possability. If you know what the actual reason is, please, let us know. The point I was trying to make is that none of us know what is going to happen, but it is apparent to me that JD is going to stick with Luke (for whatever reason), so we as fans might as well try to support the guy during the game, even if we don't agree with the decision.

I don't think Fergie goes in until Getsy goes down with an injury. We all read that Fergie was giving Luke a run for his money in spring ball. Where do we stand now though? I don't think any of us here know. Is JD playing Getsy because he promised him the position if he came from Pitt? Is JD playing Getsy because he is truely the better QB? Is JD playing Getsy because he wants to avoid a controversy? Honestly, I think Fergie won't play unless we're up BIGTIME (28+ in the 4th)or Getsy goes down. We won't be up bigtime this week. IMO, it's Getsy to stay so we need to get him in his comfort zone as quickly as possible and try to keep him there if he starts to misfire. Give him a few short passes to start with and then start stringing him out. If he gets shaken, come back and start over. If I'm right and Getsy is in the game no matter what, then the WORST thing the fans can do is start screaming at him and shake his confidence even more. In the end, I don't care who the QB is, I just want to win. JD is going to make the call, and we as fans need to support Luke when he is in to help our chances. I've only seen Fergie a few plays last year so I don't know how he compares.

Finally getting some time to take a look at Miami. All I can say is we better bring our Offense, because it looks to me that they are going to put up some points. OSU dominated them defensively and I think we are going to be the second best defense they have seen all year. I wouldn't be suprised if they put up more than the 24 I predicted. Seems like early in the year they relied rather heavily on the pass, but lately they have been using the run more. I think this is good news for us because we did a pretty darn good job of shutting down NIU's running game. Their running back is averaging over 100 yards per game. Everyone says Betts is overated, but he was pretty cool last year late in the game at the RB. Betts is avg. about 280 yards through the air per game, and looks like they have two main receivers, Nance and Robinson, but it falls off pretty quickly after that. Seems like a pretty balanced attack. I'm confident we can take away the run, it's the pass that scares me. If we can keep putting Betts on his back, I think he'll get flustered. If the "Underdog" Zips offense shows up, then I think we'll be able to put up a lot of points. I haven't seen that offense in a while though. I hope a good group of Akron fans make the trip. Sounds like they have attendence problems so a good group of Akron fans could go a long way.

Just nosing around the many sites associated with College soccer to see what it's all about. I came across the College Soccer News Preseason top 30. I take a look at it. Page 1, no Zips, nor on page 2, 3, or 4. In TINY print at the bottom of the page 4 I look at the "Other receiving votes" category and there, at what would have been spot 47, the Zips are mentioned. Looking at some of the other schools on this list, it totally amazes me that Akron can be at #1. The facilities, campus, tradition these other, big name schools have must put Akron to shame. Still, Coach and the guys go out there and get it done. You know a lot of these teams are saying "Well, if we played Akron we'd beat them, they are only in the MAC." Our guys have pulled themselves up from their bootstraps and I hope they go out there tomorrow and show the rest of College Soccer they deserve their #1 ranking! A lot of people (including me) didn't even give these guys the slightest shot of being where they are today. They need to keep that in mind and play with a chip on their shoulder for the rest of the season! Go Zips!

Yea, they've got our number allright. I hope the good zips show up. Actually, I think the Zips play pretty well in Oxford. I thought we did a good job in '99, but were screwed by the refs with the no call block in the back that sprang "Touchdown Travis" for his record breaking TD. In 2001, we really had a strong 2nd half and deserved that game before Big Ben burned us. I didn't attend the game in 2003. It'll be a close game, but I don't feel to good about the Zips right now. If they were going to snap out of it, it should have been last week. They'll improve, but not enough. Miami 24, Akron 20 with a late FG by Miami to force the Zips to score a TD, which doesn't materialize.

Great point Z-P. The "Playing to the level of our competition" is a Zips trait that hasn't been shaken. This team needs to blow away a good team just to learn what that feels like. We had a chance against NIU, but dropped the ball.

Agree totally with GP1. Just to add something, I think Getsy really needs to get in a rhythm to build some confidence. Once he has a couple completions, it seems he's got some confidence. I also don't like how we rely on the big play so much. It keeps the fans entertained, but seems we're falling back on this too much. Just get the damn first down and keep chopping away. I totally believe this team can come out on Saturday and put up big numbers on Miami. We looked like all-stars the first 11 quarters, lets get that back! Go Zips!

Below is this seasons schedule. Feel free to stop down when there are home matches and see what it's all about. The range is on the bottom floor of Schrank South. 10/15/05 -Sat- -HOME- Xavier Rifle Club 10/22/05 -Sat- -Away- Boilermaker Invitational at Purdue University 10/29/05 -Sat- -Away- United States Coast Guard Academy 10/30/05 -Sun- -Away- Massachusetts Maritime Academy 11/05/05 -Sat- -HOME- John Jay College & The Ohio State University 11/12/05 -Sat- -HOME- University of the Sciences in Philadelphia 11/19/05 -Sat- -Away- Morehead University, KY 12/03/05 -Sat- -Away- Rose Hulman Institute of Technology 01/15/06 -Sun- -Away 6th Annual Palmyra Rifle Tournament @ Palmyra, PA & United States Naval Academy @ Palmyra 01/21/06 -Sat- -HOME- West Virginia University & Texas Christian University 01/28/06 -Sat- -HOME- Virginia Military Institute & Penn State 02/11/06 -Sat- -Away- The Ohio State University for the NCAA Qualifier 02/25/06 -Sat- -Away- Western Intercollegiate Rifle Conference Championship @ Purdue University 03/04/06 -Sat- -Away- Mid Atlantic Rifle Championships @ US Coast Guard Academy 03/10-11/06 -Away- NCAA Championships@ The Olympic Training Center at Colorado Springs, Colorado

Well folks, I just hope the Rifle team can come out as well as the soccer team! We are again "Loaded" (pun intended) for Rifle. For those who haven't been around here for a while, yes, there is a thing as an Akron Rifle team and they are pretty darn good. Last season, the Rifle team was shattering records left and right. They won the Western Intercollegiate Rifle Confrence (WIRC) and placed 2nd in the Mid Atlantic Confrence (MAC) to Navy, who is one of the top teams in the country. One team member shot in the Junior Olympic Championships and two Zip shooters helped the State of Ohio bring home a National Championship! Below is the press release from Coach. I am more than willing to answer anyone's questions about the sport, just shoot me an IM or ask the question on the thread. Coach has done a great job building this program. Back in the day, it was mostly folks from Ohio and some walk on's. It appears now he is bringing in top talent from across the country! Keep an eye on these guys and gals and hopefully we'll have two national powers in Akron! Introductions: Date: October 10, 2005 Location: Akron, Ohio Event: Akron Rifle Prepares for Upcoming Season Introducing the 2005-2006 Rifle Team Members If you thought last year was exciting, wait till you see what is in store for this season with The University of Akron Rifle Team. Lets start by looking at who is returning. >>>>Seniors Cristina Ciarula and Angie Engle are this years seniors and eagerly looking forward to starting their forth season. Angie is considering a red shirt season this year but has not decided as of yet. >>>Juniors Christine Fortunao Roxbury HS in Succasunna, New Jersey.. Laura Kuntz South Range HS in North Lima, Ohio. >> Sophomores Stephanie Elmore from Blanchet HS in Salem, Oregon. April Engle from Firestone HS in Akron, Ohio. Ashley Pawlak from Lancaster Central HS in Lancaster, New York. Megan Reinking from Concordia Lutheran HS in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Cody Shields from Harcort HS in Chandlersville, Ohio. Ben Soehnlen from Perry HS in Massillon, Ohio. >Freshman: And introducing the 2005-2006 freshman class for The University of Akron Rifle Team: Julie DeBrita from Scotia Glenville HS in Scotia, New York. Adam Hyde from Plum Senior HS in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Melissa Lussier from Middletown HS in Middletown, Connecticut. Michael Tokarz from Greenbrier East HS in Lewisburg, West Virginia. Each of these talented athletes come to The University of Akron with a wealth of experience and talent. More in-depth information will be presented on the new members in future editions of this news letter. You will be absolutely amazed at what these talented athletes have already accomplished. The University of Akron tradition of excellence continues to attract the best of the best in the State of Ohio, as well as the other states in the USA. After weeks of practice, team members are establishing new personal best performances and eagerly look forward to the first competition. The first test of what the Zips can do will come on October 15 when the squad will be host to Xavier University rifle club. The match starts at 9:00 AM in the shooting facility located in Schrank Hall South, room 7. “The team has been practicing every day with a “this is the perfect shot which will win the match attitude,†states head coach Newt Engle. “With the experience of the returning veterans, and the energy of the new members, I would not even think of putting a limit on what these athletes will accomplish.†Last year the Zips finished as the #18 team in the USA as well as winning the Western Intercollegiate Rifle Conference Championships. In the Mid Atlantic Rifle Conference, Akron took the #2 slot in the Master category behind a very talented Navy team. Coach Engle is absolutely positive this will be another record breaking season. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am just glad that I'm around for a historic moment like this! I remember when I first started school, looking up at the Soccer Picture in the JAR, I think they got 2nd, and thinking "Boy, wouldn't it be cool to be around when Akron was national power". Well, here we are. I'm going to just enjoy this while it lasts, we don't get moments like this at Akron! It would be great if they could nock off St. Johns and solidify that position! Good luck to the Guys on Wed! Go Zips!!!

I hear that. Go Zips! Put the smack down on these guys! Good Luck Guys!