Wentworth Institute of Technology: Athletics > Varsity Sports

Season In Review

Under the direction of new coaches George Pantazelos and Gary Woodworth, Wentworth introduced many new shooters to the sport of rifle. The men’s and women’s rifle teams made some huge improvements this year. Each team's overall averages were very strong especially with the majority of shooter’s being new to the sport. The mixed smallbore team was ranked third in the sharpshooter division and men’s air rifle tied for fourth place also in the sharpshooter division. The women’s air rifle team ranked third in the marksman division.

Returning shooters juniors Kirk Christiansen (Fairfield, Conn.), Bill Therrien (Shopleigh, Maine), co-captain Dan Tobin (Harwich, Mass.), and senior co-captain Josh Martin-McNaughton (Monmouth, Maine) brought talent to the table, while making some strong improvements over the season. Christiansen was the highest ranking smallbore shooter (47th with a 523.33 average). Sophomore first-year shooter, Kirstin Torento (Higganum, Conn.), made the jump from the women’s air rifle team to the mixed smallbore team and posted the team’s highest smallbore score of the year; an impressive 540/600. Torento ranked 48th in smallbore with an average of 522.75, while Tobin shot a high of 501 and averaged 496. Martin-McNaughton had a high of 508 and averaged 490.

Tobin, Therrien, and Martin-McNaughton were all highly ranked in air rifle, 59th, 65th, and 69th respectively. Tobin and Martin-McNaughton also competed in the MAC Rifle Championships at MIT in air rifle where both boasted notable scores; Tobin shot a 509 and Martin-McNaughton shot a season high of 534, which was a fine way to end his collegiate shooting career.

The women’s air rifle team ranked third in the marksman division, which was quite a feat, considering that all of its members were new to the sport. Freshman Co-Captain, Angela Ngo (Chelmsford, Mass.), led the women’s air rifle team ranking an impressive 45th with a 540/600 average, and should be an asset to the team with three more seasons to go. Torento, achieved an average of 519 and a season high of 544.

Looking Ahead
The Leopards lose one shooter to graduation, a consistently high scoring air rifle and smallbore shooter, Josh Martin-McNaughton. Returning shooters will include legacy Brian Appel (Holyoke, Mass.) whose mother and father both shot for the rifle team, Steven Lemanski (New Britain, Conn.), Janet Langley (Brockton, Mass.), and Mary Menard (Latrobe, Pa.) all of whom have shown great promise and talent. The women’s team also hopes to gain more talent by recruiting and teaching potential shooters. With the greater part of the team returning for the 2008-09 season the teams can look forward to a good chance at making the Mid-Atlantic Conference Championships.

Schedule

Wentworth belongs to the Mid-Atlantic Rifle Conference, which has each of its 16 participating colleges compete in at least six “shoulder-to-shoulder” matches each season. Wentworth competes in either shoulder-to-shoulder matches, or in postal matches, where scores sent to the opponent for comparison.

The competitive season is limited to 19 weeks under NCAA rules. For the last two years the season has ended with the team being invited to shoot in MAC championships in its division.

Rifle is the oldest sport on the Wentworth campus, with matches dating back to the early 1920's. The sport of intercollegiate rifle is unique in that members of all three NCAA divisions (I, II, III) compete as one division. The Leopards have competed in numerous MAC Championships and have brought home a lot of hardware.

Of all shooting sports, air rifle and small bore rifle enjoy the well-deserved popularity as some of the purest athletic endeavors in which the performance is measured without subjective or personal bias.

Although competition event might appear boring to a casual spectator, for a knowledgeable devotee, the sport of precision shooting opens up the unquenched desire for self-confidence, consistency and precision, and an opportunity to conquer the toughest opponent any individual can face - oneself.

Meet the Coaching Staff

The Wentworth rifle team is coached by Gary Woodworth and George Pantazelos. Each of these accomplished shooters joined the Leopard staff in the fall of 2007.