Varsity Pistol Team Wins National Championship by Matt McGann '00
While I was busily at work on your Campus Preview Weekend (April 7-10, register today on MyMIT!), I came across this article on the MIT Athletics page:
Pistol Upends Navy For National Title, Earn Eight All-America Honors
March 21, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The MIT pistol team claimed its first national title since 1974 by upsetting the U.S. Naval Academy at the NRA Intercollegiate Pistol Championship. The Engineers edged out the nationally-ranked No. 1 Midshipmen by four points, preventing them from earning their fifth consecutive crown. MIT captured its fourth crown in the program’s history, with previous victories occurring in 1971 and 1972.
As a team, Tech placed first in air and free, and sixth in standard pistol. On the women’s side, MIT finished second in air and third in sport. David Schannon won the Men’s Grand Aggregate Award while Diana Nee totaled the second-highest women’s grand aggregate.
The Engineers collected eight All-America accolades, the most in the program’s history. Schannon was a First-Team selection in both the free and air events. Michael Horvath was named to the First Team for air pistol and the Second Team in free. Walter Lin received Second-Team selections for standard and air. Diana Nee was tabbed for the Second Team in sport and was an Honorable Mention in air.
So, perhaps yesterday’s math competition win by MIT was unsurprising to some of you, but people often forget that we can be good at other things, like music, theater, and, yes, sports. MIT is a member of NCAA Division I in Crew, competes at the highest level in sailing, rifle, pistol, and fencing, and fields national caliber NCAA Division III teams in Soccer, Cross Country, Track & Field, Swimming & Diving, Volleyball, and more (and don’t forget non-NCAA sports like ultimate frisbee, cricket, ballroom dance, badminton, tae kwon do…). You can be an MIT student and do varsity athletics at the same time.
As for me, I gave up varsity athletics (wrestling and cross country) after high school, but stayed quite active in MIT’s extensive intramural sports programs. I love intramural ice hockey and still play on the MIT Alumni Club of Boston team. As I like to say in my information sessions, people at MIT do much more than just sit in their rooms and play video games. Whether it is student clubs, athletic teams, research projects, music and theater groups, or whatever else, MIT students are active, doing things.