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ÿÈÕ´óÈü¹ÙÍø STING Precision Flight Team made history with the highest score ever scored by a single team when they won 1st place overall, and in all but one event at the 2017 Region IV SAFECON National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA) competition hosted at TSCT in Waco recently.

A total of 14 LETU students competed and won the SAFECON Championship with a score of 797 points, ahead of 2nd place Delta State with a score of 435 points, in Region IV competition encompassing schools from Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi.

Besides the 1st place overall win, LETU students won 1st place in the following nine individual events:
• Power off Landing - Josh Kelly
• Short Field Landing - Josh Kelly
• Navigation - Ben White and James Hulsey
• Aircraft Recognition - Addison Duncan
• Simulated Comprehensive Aircraft Navigation Event - Thomas Alley
• Manual Flight Computer (E6B) Event - Trevor Taylor
• IFR Ground Trainer Event - Thomas Alley
• Preflight Event - Jonathan Rurup
• Top pilot - Ben White

The only event in which LETU did not take first place was the Message Drop event, and LETU placed 2nd.

"I challenged the team earlier this year with Proverbs 14:23 that states all hard work brings a profit, but mere talk only leads to poverty," said LETU flight coach Jered Lease. "Our prosperity at the Regional competition is no doubt a testament to this teams' work ethic. With this win, the whole team is working hard and looking forward to the national competition in May where our strategy is to simply out-work schools 10 times the size of our program."

Not only did the LETU flight team rack up an impressive number of 1st place finishes, the students also racked up many top 10 finishes, as follows:

• In Aircraft Preflight inspection, LETU pilots placed 1st and 2nd, with Jonathan Rurup in 1st with a score of 36 and Noah Bronner in 2nd with a score of 31.
• In Aircraft Recognition, LETU pilots placed 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th, with Addison Duncan in 1st with a score of 119, Austin Turner in 2nd with a score of 113, Jeff Rosinbaum in 3rd with a score of 109 and Noah Bronner in 4th with a score of 89.
• In Computer Accuracy, LETU teams placed 1st, 2nd 3rd, 5th, and 7th, with Trevor Taylor with a score of 37, James Hulsey with a score of 35, Jonathan Rurup with a score of 34, Samuel Centeno in 5th with a score of 24 and Maggie Joe Shrum in 7th with a score of 22.
• In the Flight Events Championship, LETU ranked 1st with 468 points, ahead of 2nd place Delta State with 227 points.
• In Ground Events Championship, LETU placed 1st with 329 points, ahead of 2nd place tied colleges Delta State and TSTC Waco, each with 158 points.
• In the Ground Trainer event, LETU placed 1st and 2nd with Thomas Alley in 1st with a score of 3706 and Benjamin White in 2nd with a score of 4882.
• In Message Drop, LETU placed 2nd, 8th, 9th with the team of drop master Benjamin White and pilot James Hulsey taking 2nd with a score of 24, drop master Noah Bronner and pilot Thomas Alley taking 8th with a score of 13, and the team of drop master Addison Duncan and pilot Jonathan Rurup taking 9th with a score of 12.
• In Navigation, LETU swept the top spots by placing 1st, 2nd and 3rd with the team of pilot Benjamin White and safety observer James Hulsey taking 1st with a score of 40, the team of pilot Jonathan Rurup and safety observer Addison Duncan taking 2nd with a score of 48, and the team of pilot Thomas Alley and safety observer Noah Bronner taking 3rd with a score of 49.75.
• In Power-Off Landing, LETU won 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 10th with Josh Kelly taking 1st with a score of 7, Thomas Alley in 2nd with a score of 30, James Hulsey in 3rd with a score of 70, Benjamin White in 5th with a score of 265 and Jonathan Rurup in 10th with a score of 504.
• In Short Field Landing, LETU won 1st, 2nd, 4th and 10th with Josh Kelly in 1st with a score of 25, Benjamin White tied for 2nd against Central Texas College with a score of 57, James Hulsey in 4th with a score of 78 and Thomas Alley in 10th with a score of 255.
• In the Simulated Comprehensive Aircraft Navigation (SCAN) event among 25 competitors, LETU placed 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 7th. LETU pilots Thomas Alley placed 1st with a score of 27, Benjamin White placed 2nd with a score of 25, Jon Mammen placed 3rd with a score of 25, and Erica Swenson placed 7th with a score of 18.
• In the Top Pilot event, LETU placed 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th with Benjamin White in 1st in Top Pilot with a score of 147 points, Thomas Alley in 2nd with a score of 136 points, Joshua Kelly in 4th with a score of 89 points, Jonathan Rurup in 5th with a score of 80 points, and James Hulsey in 6th with a score of 70 points.
• The Top Scoring Contestant out of 53 competing was Benjamin White with a score of 166 points, Thomas Alley in 2nd with a score of 136 points, Jonathan Rurup in 5th with a score of 98 points, Joshua Kelly in 7th with a score of 96 points, James Hulsey in 8th with a score of 91 points.

Official results for all competitors are found on the NIFA website: https://nifa.aero/2017-region-iv-SAFECON-official-results/

The 14 LETU students, their hometowns and majors are listed below in alphabetical order by last name:

Thomas Alley of Meadville, Pennsylvania
Professional flight, multiengine flight instructor minor

Noah Bronner - Co-captain - of Thompson Falls, Montana
Professional Flight maintenance concentration

Samuel Centeno of Houston, Texas
Professional Flight

Addison Duncan of Enid, Oklahoma
Mission Aviation Flight Concentration

Jeffrey Rosinbaum of Boerne, Texas
Professional Flight, Aviation Maintenance Concentration

Josh Kelly of Houston, Texas
Aviation Management with Professional Flight

Jon Mammen of Grapevine, Texas
Professional Flight

Jonathan Rurup of White Bear Lake, Minnesota
Professional Flight with an Aviation Maintenance Concentration

Maggie Jo Shrum of Duncanville, Texas
Biblical Studies, B.S.

Jeffrey Rosinbaum of Boerne, Texas
Professional Flight, Aviation Maintenance Concentration

Erica Swenson of McKinney, Texas
Aviation Management with a Professional Flight Concentration

Trevor Taylor - Co-captain - of Keller, Texas
Professional Flight, Maintenance Concentration

Austin Turner of Modesto, California
Professional Flight, Maintenance Concentration

Benjamin White of Tyler, Texas
Professional flight with Maintenance

ÿÈÕ´óÈü¹ÙÍø is the Christian polytechnic university in the nation where educators engage students to nurture Christian virtue, develop competency and ingenuity in their professional fields, integrate faith and work, and serve the local and global community. The LETU aviation program is the only comprehensive university-level aviation program in the state of Texas. LETU offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs across a range of disciplines and delivery models at LETU's residential campus in Longview, Texas, and in hybrid and fully online options at centers in Dallas and Houston. Claiming every workplace in every nation as their mission field, ÿÈÕ´óÈü¹ÙÍø graduates are professionals of ingenuity and Christ-like character who see life's work as a holy calling with eternal impact. For additional information, visit www.letu.edu.