Not unlucky: SIU Flying Salukis hit 13 straight regional titles

October 29, 2024

by Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Winning each of the nine events they competed in, the Southern Illinois University Carbondale Flying Salukis used a dominating performance to easily win their 13th straight National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA) Region VIII championship.

Mateo Torres, a junior in aviation flight and technologies from Park Ridge, Illinois, won top scoring honors, and teammate Grant Gillespie, a four-year team member and senior from Fort Worth, Texas, won three events. In winning both the ground event and flight event titles, the host Flying Salukis had six of the top seven scorers to overwhelm Purdue University and Lewis University, Oct. 23-26, at Southern Illinois Airport near Murphysboro.

Coach Nathan J. Lincoln, a senior lecturer in aviation management and flight in SIU's School of Aviation, is pleased with the team's results after just over a month of practice following tryouts.

"The way everyone came together the last few weeks was enjoyable as a coach to watch," he said. "Everyone was pushing themselves but also helping each other so that the team was ready as a whole. When this happens, you know that they are truly invested in the success of the team."

The title propels the nine-time national champions to the NIFA championships for the 55th time in 56 years. The championships, where the Flying Salukis have finished in the top five in the nation for 15 straight years and in the top three overall in 12 of the last 13 years, will be May 12-17 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. All 18 team members will return to compete in May.

"Staying competitive every year is an extremely difficult thing to do. It takes dedication and commitment from all involved to keep our performance high," Lincoln said. "I commend our students for putting in the time necessary as well as all my coaching staff being able to guide them to success."

Results are available on the NIFA website.

The squad has just two seniors, along with six first-year team members.

"Even though we are a very young we have a lot of talent within our team. I think this shows the quality of our aviation students as well as the flight program. I am extremely proud to represent our university and showcase it to our peer aviation programs," Lincoln said.

"Being able to win every event we competed in shows the team mentality. Everyone who competes wants to do well, but more importantly, they are driven to make the team better. They freely communicate how to perform better in the events, even if that means the other team member might do better than them. For our success, this is a foundational necessity."

As a team, the squad placed:

• The top five scorers in computer accuracy.
• The top two finishers in aircraft preflight inspection and ground trainer events.
• Five of the top seven scorers in short field landing.
• Five of the top eight, including the top four finishers, in power-off landing.
• Five of the top eight, including the top three finishers, in message drop.
• Five of the top eight in SCAN, or simulated comprehensive aircraft navigation.
• Four of the top seven scorers in aircraft recognition.
• Three of the top four scorers in traditional navigation.

Taking home individual event titles were:

• Aircraft preflight inspection - Ben Campbell, junior, aviation management and aviation flight, Richmond, Illinois, fifth place.
• Aircraft recognition - Grant Gillespie, senior, aviation technologies and aviation flight, Fort Worth, Texas, third place.
• Computer accuracy - Jake Mack, junior, aviation technologies and aviation flight, Lake Zurich, Illinois, tied for sixth place.
• Ground trainer - Grant Gillespie, Fort Worth, Texas.
• Message drop - Liam Harrison (dropmaster), sophomore, aviation management and flight, Libertyville, Illinois, and Thomas Nguyen (pilot), sophomore, aviation management and flight, Broomfield, Colorado. Harrison and Nguyen tied for 15th place.
• Power-off landing - Vassilios Georges, senior, aviation management and flight, Chesterfield, Missouri, fourth place.
• SCAN - Alana Stahl, sophomore, aviation management and flight, Sandwich, Illinois, 23rd place.
• Short field landing - Grant Gillespie, Fort Worth, Texas.
• Traditional navigation - Jeremy Murray (pilot), sophomore, aviation management and flight, Lockport, Illinois, and Michael Chebuske (safety observer), sophomore, aviation management and aviation flight, Louis, Missouri. Murray tied for sixth; Chebuske finished 10th.

Other Flying Salukis who scored points were:

• Kyra Hilsabeck, sophomore, aviation management and aviation flight, Edelson, Illinois, 24th place.
• Mateo Torres, junior, aviation flight and aviation technologies, Park Ridge, Illinois, 1st place.
• Luke Trout, junior, aviation management and flight, Holland, Indiana, tied for 12th place.

Additional Flying Salukis are:

• Luke Barry, freshman, aviation technologies and aviation flight, Benton, Illinois.
• Gabriel Booth, freshman, aviation management and aviation flight, Murphysboro, Illinois.
• James Cone, sophomore, aviation management and aviation flight, Byron, Illinois.
• Brady Noble, sophomore, aviation flight, Sussex, Wisconsin.
• Ryder Schwoerer, freshman, aviation management and flight, Monticello, Illinois.
• Thomas Van Dorpe, junior, aviation management, Charles, Illinois.

Lincoln believes the team will continue to improve over the coming months.

"Coaches and team members are still working on a few weak areas that we know exist. The level of competition at a national level is extremely high and requires everyone to be performing at their best. If we can take what was done this semester and build upon that, anything is possible," he said.

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