Prescott Campus Students Win 10th National Championship at NIFA SAFECON

The annual competition, held May 9-14 this year at Ohio State University, brings together collegiate aviation teams from around the United States to compete in flight and ground events such as navigation, computer accuracy, preflight inspection and more.

Prescott’s Golden Eagles also won the coveted Judges Championship Trophy and the Ground Events Championship Trophy. Team members Bat-Amgalan Batbileg and Colin Kennedy secured the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the Computer Accuracy competition. Overall, the Golden Eagles Flight Team and individual team members finished in the top 10 in 17 categories, including the Regional Top Pilot Award for Roger Williams (finished second out of 10 competitors).

Also competing at this year’s event was the Eagles Flight Team of the university’s Daytona Beach, Fla., campus, which placed sixth overall. The Eagles team earned the Competition Safety Award, and placed in the top 10 in 15 categories, including the top spot in Women’s Achievement Award for team captain Emmy Dillon. Team member Liam Dermady clinched No. 1 in Aircraft Recognition for the second year in a row.

“Embry-Riddle is very proud of our Golden Eagles Flight Team who brought our 10th National Championship home to Prescott,” said Prescott Campus Chancellor Dr. Frank Ayers. “Competing against the top 40 collegiate aviation programs in the country, these amazing young men and women cemented their record as the winningest flight team in the nation over the last 20 years. Their success is due to the quality, dedication and work ethic of these amazing young people and reinforces Embry-Riddle’s status as the No. 1 aviation program in the country.”

At last year’s competition, the Prescott team finished third overall. With the 2016 top title, the Golden Eagles have now won the NIFA SAFECON national championship 10 times since 1993. The team also has an unbroken 32-year record as regional champion.

“This Golden Eagles team is unparalleled in hard work, passion, competitiveness and the time they are able to put in toward these very, very worthwhile goals,” said Golden Eagles Coach Bertil Aagesen. “I have come to love this team in how hard they work and how they treat each other, demanding excellence from everyone.”

The Prescott Golden Eagles team consists of coach Bertil Aagesen, assistant coach Alex Johnson, captain Victor Griffin, co-captain Sam Morris, mechanic Farrell Harris and competitors Stephen Anderson, Bat-Amgalan “Bella” Batbileg, Michael Byard, Lorenzo Cabral, Jacob Cobian, Kevin Fickenscher, Thomas Foelster, Jason Fung, Matthew Hallock, Rachel Hutzell, Colin Kennedy, Benjamin Klinkman-Sinatra, Yashica Khatri, Becca Laub, Chin-An Lin, Matthew Masangcay, Ian McLellan, Connor McNicholas, Nicholas Moore, Ryan O’Connor, Jane Possell, Spencer Thomas, and Roger Williams.

Read more on the Embry-Riddle Prescott Golden Eagles.

The Daytona Beach team, which tied for fifth in the 2015 competition, had a strong finish this year in sixth with an increase of overall points from 183 in 2015 to 224 in 2016. It won the national championship in 1992 and placed second in 2009 and 2010.

“The Eagles Flight Team from the Daytona Beach Campus shined in Ohio again,” said team Coach Scott Reese. “I am very proud of the Eagles Flight Team members for their hard work, discipline and professionalism.”

The Daytona Beach Eagles team consists of coach Scott Reese, assistant coaches Fumi Shigematsu and Tomo Urakami, and competitors Emmy Dillon (captain), Winsun Lu, Timothy Pollock, Tsz Him “Issac” Yeung, Tyler Rafferty, Bolun “Jerry” Liu, Chao Li, David Bench, Michael Benson, Liam Dermady, Soonho Lee, Nicole Leong, Kam Wai Leung, Shaun Mukiria, Krushan Patel, Blaise Picchiello, Thomas Saitta, Joshua Suarez, Joshua Swain and Ho Ching “Kendrew” Wan.

For more information on the Embry-Riddle Daytona Beach Eagles, go to facebook.com/eaglesflightteam

For the complete list of the NIFA SAFECON national competition results, go to nifa.us/SAFECON_2016_Results.html

Embry-Riddle Team Results (Categories in which Embry-Riddle teams did not place are not listed)

National SAFECON Championship Trophy
#1 Prescott
#6 Daytona Beach 

Judges Championship Trophy
#1 Prescott
#6 Daytona Beach 

Flight Events Championship Trophy
(25 contestants)
#3 Prescott
#6 Daytona Beach

Ground Events Championship Trophy
(25 contestants)
#1 Prescott
#5 Daytona Beach

Embry-Riddle Individual Results (Categories in which Embry-Riddle team members did not place are not listed)

Aircraft Preflight Inspection
(50 contestants)
#10 Stephen Anderson (Prescott)
#14 Tyler Rafferty (Daytona Beach)
#18 Ian McLellan (Prescott)
#21 Emmy Dillon (Daytona Beach)

Aircraft Recognition
(125 contestants)
#1 Liam Dermady (Daytona Beach)
#3 Victor Griffin (Prescott)
#8 Ian McLellan (Prescott)
#9 Matthew Hallock (Prescott)
#10 Stephen Anderson (Prescott)
#13 Nicholas Moore (Prescott)
#22 Tyler Rafferty (Daytona Beach)
#37 Bolun Liu (Daytona Beach)
#38 Emmy Dillon (Daytona Beach)
#57 Blaise Picchielo (Daytona Beach)

Certified Flight Instructor
(11 contestants)
#10 Tomohiro Urakami (Daytona Beach)

Competition Safety Award
#1 Daytona Beach

Computer Accuracy
(125 contestants)
#1 Bat-Amgalan Batbileg (Prescott)
#2 Colin Kennedy (Prescott)
#3 Winsun Lu (Daytona Beach)
#4 Kevin Fickenscher (Prescott)
#8 Ho Ching “Kendrew” Wan (Daytona Beach)
#10 Chao Li (Daytona Beach)
#12 Tsz Him Yeung (Daytona Beach)
#25 Jacob Cobian (Prescott)
#34 Krushan Patel (Daytona Beach)
#35 Samuel Morris (Prescott)

CRM/LOFT Event
(23 contestants)
#4 Emmy Dillon/Chao Li (Daytona Beach)
#11 Roger Williams/Victor Griffin (Prescott)

Ground Trainer
(50 contestants)
#2 Madeline Mearsch (Prescott)
#4 Nicholas Moore (Prescott)
#24 Winsun Lu (Daytona Beach)
#39 Krushan Patel (Daytona Beach)

Instrument Flight Rules
(24 contestants)
#3 Ian McLellan (Prescott)
#5 Krushan Patel (Daytona Beach)

Message Drop
(73 contestants)
#9 Liam Dermady/Tyler Rafferty (Daytona Beach)
#13 Winsun Lu/Tsz Him Yeung (Daytona Beach)
#36 Chin-An Lin/Jacob Cobian (Prescott)
#51 Roger Williams/Stephen Anderson (Prescott)
#63 Krushan Patel/Liam Dermady (Daytona Beach)
#73 Ian McLellan/Kevin Fickenscher (Prescott)

Navigation
(71 contestants)
#3 Tsz Him Yeung/Winsun Lu (Daytona Beach)
#7 Yashica Khatri/Jacob Cobian (Prescott)
#8 Victor Griffin/Nicholas Moore (Prescott)
#10 Rachel Hutzell/Chin-An Li (Prescott)
#11 Tyler Rafferty/Emmy Dillon (Daytona Beach)
#40 Krushan Patel/Liam Dermady (Daytona Beach)

Outstanding Team Member Award
Matthew Hallock (Prescott)
Winsun Lu (Daytona Beach)

Power-Off Landing
(123 contestants)
#6 Ian McLellan (Prescott)
#9 Roger Williams (Prescott)
#14 Victor Griffin (Prescott)
#16 Chin-An Lin (Prescott)
#28 Krushan Patel (Daytona Beach)
#34 Liam Dermady (Daytona Beach)
#37 Jacob Cobian (Prescott)
#42 Timothy Pollock (Daytona Beach)
#60 Winsun Lu (Daytona Beach)
#83 Tyler Rafferty (Daytona Beach)

Regional Top Pilot Award
(10 contestants)
Roger Williams (Prescott)

Short-Field Landings
(123 contestants)
#4 Victor Griffin (Prescott)
#6 Roger Williams (Prescott)
#13 Chin-An Lin (Prescott)
#14 Timothy Pollock (Daytona Beach)
#20 Ian McLellan (Prescott)
#37 Liam Dermady (Daytona Beach)
#40 Krushan Patel (Daytona Beach)
#49 Nicholas Moore (Prescott)
#63 Tyler Rafferty (Daytona Beach)
#70 Winsun Lu (Daytona Beach)

Simulated Comprehensive Aircraft Navigation
(125 contestants)
#5 Winsun Lu (Daytona Beach)
#7 Ian McLellan (Prescott)
#10 Chin-An Lin (Prescott)
#13 Bat-Amgalan Batbileg (Prescott)
#15 Rachel Hutzell (Prescott)
#16 Chao Li (Daytona Beach)
#17 Ho Ching “Kendrew” Wan (Daytona Beach)
#19 Roger Williams (Prescott)
#39 Krushan Patel (Daytona Beach)
#61 Bolun Liu (Daytona Beach)

Top Pilot Award
(15 contestants)
#5 Victor Griffin (Prescott)
#13 Tsz Him Yeung (Daytona Beach)

Top Scoring Contestants
(125 contestants)
#4 Victor Griffin (Prescott)
#9 Ian McLellan (Prescott)
#15 Roger Williams (Prescott)
#17 Tsz Him Yeung (Daytona Beach)
#18 Winsun Lu (Daytona Beach)
#23 Chin-An Lin (Prescott)
#26 Liam Dermady (Daytona Beach)
#34 Bat-Amgalan Batbileg (Prescott)
#34 Yashica Khatri (Prescott)
#34 Rachel Hutzell (Prescott)
#39 Tyler Rafferty (Daytona Beach)
#41 Nicholas Moore (Prescott)
#42 Chao Li (Daytona Beach)
#44 Stephen Anderson (Prescott)
#50 Madeline Mearsch (Prescott)
#50 Colin Kennedy (Prescott)
#57 Kevin Fickenscher (Prescott)
#57 Ho Ching “Kendrew” Wan (Daytona Beach)
#61 Krushan Patel (Daytona Beach)
#69 Timothy Pollock (Daytona Beach)
#71 Matthew Hallock (Prescott)
#89 Emmy Dillon (Daytona Beach)

Women’s Achievement Award
#1 Emmy Dillon (Daytona Beach)