The University of Akron Athletics
A Q&A with Rifle Coach Newt Engle
December 13 | Rifle
Dec. 13, 2001
AKRON - Head coach Newt Engle led his 2001-02 Akron rifle squad to a national-ranking early this season, with the Zips off to one of the fastest starts in the history of the program. A darkhorse sport in the world of college athletics, rifle has the unique distinction of being a truly coed sport. Engle's Zips have made in-roads on the national scene over the past few years, and he hopes to make more waves over the second half of this season.
What were some of the highlights from the first
semester of competition?
First has to be the double win over Canisius College of Buffalo.
Canisius is always a serious contender and has been finishing just
a little ahead of us for the past couple of years. Canisius is
still a very good team, but at the level of proficiency our team is
producing has moved us ahead of them for the first time in years.
Second has to be how the new freshmen joined the team with guns
blazing. Joe Milano, Matt Jacqmain, Sarah Kramer, and Gary Meglich
all joined the team this year bringing along many years of junior
shooting experience. What this means is they are actually pushing
the senior shooters for the top spot on the team. And this is quite
an accomplishment due to the fact the seniors are shooting at or
near All-American levels. The really exciting question is, "If
these freshman are shooting this good now, what will they be doing
in 2 or 3 years?"
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How does the second semester schedule shake
out?
We will definitely have to turn it up a notch or two for the
second semester. We open with OSU in January and it keeps getting
tougher from there. The teams we will be facing are all currently
ranked above us, but if you look at the numbers, it is MUCH closer
than it looks. With the elimination of just a few mental slip ups,
and an increase in concentration levels, we can easily close the
gap and demonstrate what we can do. In this sport a perfect team
match total would be 6,400 points. Thus if a team is a mere 100
points behind the leader, and a team consists of 4 persons, that is
only 25 points for each athlete. And each of our top athletes can
easily make up 25 points. The challenge for me as their coach is to
get them to realize this.
How is our balance between smallbore and air
rifle?
Through the first half of the season our smallbore has been on a
pretty steady increase. I can't say the same for air rifle. The
trick is going to be maintaining the smallbore improvement while
hitting the air rifle practices a little harder. Usually after the
holiday recess, the athletes are ready to get to the range and do
what is needed. I am confident we will start the second half of the
season with a bang.
Projected starting lineups for the second
semester?
Jacqmain and Milano started out the season on fire, and then
tapered off a little. But then right at the end of the semester
they started back on the upswing. The three seniors, Melissa
Meglich, Cori Flask, and Dan Wytko started the semester shooting
well and kept getting better and better. So for the next semester I
look for all of them to start out at their best, and do nothing but
get better from there. We have the potential, and the very real
possibility to do some exciting things. I expect the old school
records are in serious jeopardy.
What kind of a score will it take to qualify for the
NCAA Elite 8?
It is pretty clear. We will have to be firing combined scores in
the 6150's. That breaks down to around a 4610 for smallbore and
1540 for air rifle. If you do the math, you will quickly see we are
at the moment averaging slightly over 6000. So we have some
catching up to do. But as I said above, I can see it, and I can
taste it, and I know the rest of the team is right there with me.
We just have to grab it.
What would an NCAA berth mean to the
program?
It would be a justified reward for all the hard work and hours of
practice that the athletes on this team perform. We have been
within sight of an NCAA championship for past several years. This
year is the closest yet, we just need to reach out and grab it. In
the world of competitive shooting, a trip to the NCAA championships
can also add creditability to the program. Many prospective student
athletes in high school, look at the teams who make it to the NCAA
championships as the best of the best. I already know we are one of
the best teams out there, However, I would love a chance to
demonstrate it to everyone else.
