NRL research engineer Yakov Ostrovsky and Sloan School of Management lecturer Greg Sabin, coaches of the MIT Pistol Team, were part of a group that recently returned from the NRA Intercollegiate Pistol Championships with a large assortment of top awards. Overall, the team brought home 5 gold, 1 silver, and 3 bronze medals. The competition was held in Ft. Benning, Georgia, and included teams from 10 different schools, among them the U.S. Military, Naval, and Coast Guard Academies, as well as The Citadel.

Yakov has been one of the team’s volunteer coaches since 2009, when the team changed its status at MIT from a varsity to club sport. At that point, the team might have dissolved completely if it weren’t for the efforts of Yakov and three other members of the MIT Pistol and Rifle Club to sustain the Pistol Team’s intercollegiate standing, in part by taking on volunteer coaching duties. The team has continued to qualify for the national championships ever since. Yakov is also an accomplished marksman with an NRA Master Qualification, and has competed successfully in state and national competitions himself.

At this year’s Nationals, the team competed in the free pistol, standard pistol, and open air pistol events, as well as the women’s and men’s air pistol and women’s sport pistol events. The MIT women swept the championship with gold medals in air pistol, sport pistol, and team aggregate (with the second highest team aggregate score in the history of the Championship). In the men’s competitions, MIT won gold and silver medals in the 40-shot air pistol event.

This is the third year in a row that MIT has won the women’s team championship aggregate. The women also finished their season undefeated.