The Lewis University Flight Team took second place at the 2009 Region VIII SAFECON Competition. Lewis’ Flight Team earned 70 points in the flight events and 63 points in the ground events, ranking number two in both events. The overall second place rank allows the team to participate in the 2010 National SAFECON Competition.

“We are extremely proud of how hard the team practiced for the regional competition,” commented Keith McGill, Chief of Pilot Training at Lewis University. He added, “Our coaches and team members have been very dedicated and placed high in competition.”

Held Oct. 20-24 at Lewis University in Romeoville, the multi-event competition included six universities from the region. In addition to Lewis’ Flight Team, teams from Southern Illinois University, University of Illinois – Champaign, Purdue University, Indiana State University and Middle Tennessee State University participated in this year’s contest.

The four-day competition consisted of events which tested Flight Team members on flight simulator, area navigation (RNAV), power-off landings, short-field approach and landings, message drop, computer accuracy, aircraft recognition, ground training, simulated comprehensive aircraft navigation (SCAN) and pre-flight inspection.

Lewis’ Flight Team placed in the top 10 in all but one event. According to McGill, due to low clouds, each school only had two pilots compete in power-off landings instead of the normal five pilots from each team. High scorers for the team included Tom Muntzenberger of Naperville, who placed first in pre-flight inspection and Andrew Wolanik of Crystal Lake, who took second place in both the aircraft recognition and pre-flight inspection events. Jared Hunt of Morton finished fourth in both aircraft recognition and power-off landings, while Thomas “TJ” Fogarty of Ancona placed fifth in area navigation (RNAV), came in seventh in power-off landings and earned ninth in aircraft recognition.

Also placing in the top 10 in contest events were Aaron Brown of Joliet, who finished 10th in E6B with Muntzenberger that served as his pilot, Tyler Dean of Portage, Ind., who earned second place with Fogarty that served as his pilot. Chris Nocchi of Algonquin came in 10th in message drop with Jennifer Alicz of Shorewood as his pilot. Nicholas Terleckyj of Park Ridge finished second in flight simulator, fourth in area navigation (RNAV), and eighth in E6B. Peter Allen of Chicago earned third place in flight simulator and took sixth in E6B. Matt Koldenhoven of Plainfield finished fifth in short field landing.

“We are looking forward to nationals and have a good chance to place in the top 10 with our talented students,” said McGill. He continued, “Our competitors are continually looking for ways to improve their performance and the results from competition show it.”

Other competing members of the Lewis Flight Team included Chris Powell of Chicago, Steve Gee of River Forest, Eric Pepich of Lemont, Sam Patel of Hanover Park, Alexandria Andrews of Slinger, Wisc., Neil Shuey of Gibsonia, Penn., Mike Deimert of Lake Villa, Nariv Patel of Aurora, Ken Bucz of Chicago, George Yacoub of Villa Park, James Vandeventer of Naperville, Andrew Banieki of Chicago, Justin Gouty of Indian Head Park, Jake Luedtke of Hampshire, Anthony Lalor of Woodstock, Daniel Perez of Orland Park, Carl Bruch of Kirkland and Nicole Mott of Plainwell, Mich.

Lewis University was awarded a safety trophy at the competition. Coaches for the Lewis Flight Team include Head Coach Al Szoldatits of Tinley Park, assistant head coaches Megan Montgomery of LaGrange, Robert Delaney of Minooka, Tiffany Bilski of Burbank and James Binder of River Grove. For additional information, please contact Keith McGill, Chief of Pilot Training, at (815) 836-5053.

A Catholic university sponsored by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, Lewis offers nearly 80 undergraduate majors and programs of study, accelerated degree completion options for working adults, various aviation programs and 22 graduate programs in nine fields. The 10th largest private, not-for-profit university in Illinois is being honored for the sixth consecutive year by The Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report.