Six Shooters Earn CRCA All-Academic Rifle Team Honors

Four members of the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia's mixed rifle team and two members of the USP women's rifle team were named to the 2010 College Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA) All-Academic Rifle Team which was announced by the organization earlier this week.

USP mixed team members that earned CRCA honors this season were seniors Courtney Cavalieri (Highland High School/ Highland, N.Y.) and Glen Hirsh (Cherokee High School/Marlton, N.J.) and freshmen Ed Ryznar (Maplewood HS/Titusville, Pa.) and Brad Driscoll (Alvirne HS/Hudson, N.H.). Senior Elisha Shumard (Toms River North HS/Toms River, N.J.) and junior Nicole Churchill (Pocono Mountain West HS/ Albrightsville, Pa.) were the two members of the USP women's team that were recognized by the CRCA. The six athletes were amongst the 110 shooters nationally named to the All-Academic Team by the CRCA.

Cavalieri becomes just the third shooter from the University of the Sciences to earn CRCA All-Academic honors in all four years of competition, joining Alex Novin (2006-2009) and Michelle Bauer (2005-2008). Shumard earns her third consecutive All-Academic honors while Hirsh gets the award for the second straight year. Driscoll, Ryznar and Churchill are first-time honorees.

To qualify for the CRCA All-Academic All-American Rifle Team, a shooter must have at least a 3.25 overall grade point average record or a 3.25 g.p.a. in the fall semester and record a score of at least 525 out of 600 in either smallbore or air rifle during the current season. The athlete's coach must be a member of the CRCA.

Cavalieri is a fifth-year pharmacy major, pursuing a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. Courtney currently has a 3.270 overall grade point average. and recently completed her fourth and final season of competition for the Devils. Courtney finished the season with a smallbore average of 544.00 and an air rifle average of 553.56 while competing in 12 events for the Devils. Cavalieri's smallbore season and career high score of 557 came against Virginia Military Institute in October while her season high air rifle score of 561 was also in October against Navy. The Poughkeepsie, New York native was also named to the Mid-Atlantic Rifle Conference (MAC) All-Academic Team in 2009 and the Philadelphia Area All-Academic Women's At-Large Team the same year.

Shumard, a four-year member of the USP women's team becomes a three-time honoree this year. Elisha is in her fifth year in the institution's Doctor of Physical Therapy program and has a 3.443 overall g.p.a. Shumard finished the season with a smallbore average of 473.33 and an air rifle average of 518.80, shooting an air rifle season-high score of 536 at the NRA Sectionals at USP in late February.

Hirsh, a senior and four year member of the mixed rifle team earns All-Academic honors for the second time, sporting a 3.39 g.p.a. as a microbiology major with a bioinformatics minor. Glen finished his fourth and final season as a member of the Devils mixed rifle team with a smallbore average of 530.09 and an air rifle average of 527.22. Hirsh recorded his season-high for air rifle at the NRA Sectionals in February, firing a score of 543. His season-high in smallbore came against Indiana University of Pennsylvania in November when he shot 545.

First-time honorees include the Devils top two shooters on the mixed team, Ryznar and Driscoll. Both shooters also recently were named to the MAC All-Rookie Team and earned all-conference status. The two shooters are both first year pharmacy majors at USP. Ryznar has a g.p.a. of 3.90 while Driscoll sports 3.86 mark. Ryznar was the Devils leading smallbore shooter with an average of 568.55 and a season/career high of 580 coming against Loyola College (Maryland) in November. He also had the second best air rifle average on the team (574.56) and a season/career high mark of 582, shot against Akron in November.

Driscoll was the leading air rifle shooter on the team with an average of 574.78 and had the second highest smallbore average (564.82). Brad recorded his season/career bests one week apart in late January with a smallbore score of 577 coming against Navy and a 581 in the NRA Sectionals the following week.

Churchill rounds out the six honorees for the Devils. A three-year member of the women's team, Nicole served as captain of the women's squad during the 2009-10 season. In her fourth year academically, Churchill has a 3.729 g.p.a. as a pharmacy major. The junior shooter led the women's team in both guns with a 521.67 air rifle average and a 474.09 smallbore average. Nicole shot a career high of 539 in air rifle earlier this season against Navy.

---