A Brief History of the Purdue Trap and Skeet Club
1977 - 2003
The Purdue Trap and Skeet club was chartered during the school year of 1977- 78. A small group of enthusiastic shotgun shooters managed to become integrated into the Rifle and Pistol Club. Within a semester or so, this group of shotgun enthusiasts prepared a constitution and was approved by the Dean of Students Office as a student organization and Club Sport.
Although the Purdue Trap and Skeet Club immediately began competing in collegiate trap and skeet tournaments, it was not until after the George W. Haniford Trap and Skeet Range was constructed in 1982 that the team started to experience success in collegiate competition. The Purdue Trap and Skeet Club won the Big 10 Championship in 1983 and they tied for the Big 10 Championship in 1984. They won again in 1985, which started an incredible string of 14 consecutive Big 10 Championships.
Purdue's Trap Team won its first collegiate World Championship at the Grand American World Trapshooting Championships in 1985, and continued to win this annual event each year through the year 2002 --18 consecutive World Championships. The Purdue team won the collegiate World Championship at the Grand American World Trapshooting Championships again in 2004 in both the Open and Club division. Purdue's Trap Team established a world record for a collegiate trap team in 1998 when the team broke 989 of their 1,000 targets.
Purdue's Trap and Skeet Team won the High Over All (HOA) Team Championship at the Association of College Unions International (ACUI) for five consecutive years- -1996-2000. After missing a sixth consecutive HOA championship by 5 targets out of 2600, Purdue again captured the title in 2002 and repeated the feat in 2003. The HOA Team Championship is based on team performance in four events --American Skeet, American Trap, International Skeet and International Trap. In 1998, Purdue’s Trap and Skeet Teams were National Champions in all four of these events. In addition, Purdue's Trap Team won World championships in both collegiate divisions (Club and Open) at the Grand American World Trapshooting Championships. This was the first time that a collegiate team has ever won all four events and HOA at the ACUI Collegiate National Championships and both World Championships of the two college divisions at the Grand American World Championships.
In 1997, Tony Colletti won the National Skeet Shooting Association (NSSA) International Skeet World Championship --a rare achievement for a college student. In 1994, Linda Ferrence won Collegiate Lady World Champion at the NSSA Junior World Championships. Purdue Trap and Skeet teams and individual competitors have now won a total of 90 National and World Championships.
Purdue University has had a total of 17 shooters named "All-American" by the National Rifle Association. They are Laura Aasen, Archie Alexander, T.J. Arvas, Jr., Anthony Colletti, Danny Ficocello, Jeff Finn, Damon Hovannisian, Matt McGraw, Jordan Myers, Brian Nemec, Eric Poloncak, Monica Robar, Lou Schultz, Steve Shillington, Andy Suda, John Voliva and Kirby Woods.
Purdue shooters have established several impressive individual national and world records. Laura Aasen is the only college student to shoot a perfect score (200/200) at the Grand American World Trapshooting Championships. This feat was written-up in Sports Illustrated. At the ACUI in 2000, T.J.Arvas, Jr., became the first collegiate shooter to break a perfect score (200/200) in American Trap. Linda Ferrence currently holds the ACUI Collegiate Lady HOA record.
The National Rifle Association named Purdue Trap and Skeet faculty adviser and coach, Dr. Charles L. Rhykerd, “Coach of the Year” in 1991. Dr. Rhykerd served as faculty adviser and coach of the Purdue Trap and Skeet Team from the time it was chartered until December 1998. Arch Alexander, Professor of Building Construction Management, School of Technology, now serves as Purdue's Trap and Skeet faculty adviser and coach.
9/20/2000
Charles Rhykerd and Timothy Palmer
Updated 4/15/03 by Arch Alexander
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