Fabijance is Akron captain

By JOHN KOVACH

kovach@vindy.com

AKRON

Josh Fabijance of Niles has the distinct honor to be captain of the University of Akron rifle team in his junior season.

“The team actually gets to vote on captain and the coach [Newt Engle] kind of supervises it as to whether it will be a good choice or not,” said Fabijance, a Niles High graduate who was chosen as captain last year even though he was in his red-shirt season and not competing in meets.

He believes that he was picked by his teammates to lead the team because of “Just being there always and helping out, I know my craft and I an proficient at it and I am interested in helping everyone, and they saw the dedication and loyalty I have toward the team and I think that’s the season they picked me.”

Also, “I didn’t have to practice but I did. I treated it as a regular practice. I wanted to help my teammates. I devoted more of my time last year to helping anyone who wanted and needed it.”

Fabijance also contributes to the team as a coach.

“I am a certified [National Rifle Association] coach and I coach at Camp Perry in the summer. I have coached national matches. I have coached ages 12-18,” said Fabijance, who will have one more season left next year while completing work toward three degrees.

He is majoring in American history, specializing in military history, and minoring in homeland security and military science (ROTC), with a 2.5 grade-point average. He plans to graduate in May of 2011 and be commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army.

Fabijance said his shooting accuracy has improved and that he has achieved his best scores this season with 559 in smallbore and 570 in air rifle.

In smallbore, he takes 60 shots, 20 each in prone, standing and kneeling positions; while in air rifle he also takes 60 shots but all in a standing position. The bull’s-eye in both competitions is worth 10 points.

“I’ve improved every season. [My accuracy] has gotten better. Last year as a redshirt, I stepped up in practice and came in this year ready and shooting very well,” said Fabijance, who got a 536 in smallbore (28th overall (and 557 in air rifle (24th) in the fourth-team NCAA Qualifier last Saturday at Ohio State that also included Rose Hulman and Purdue.

Akron (4,573) finished second behind Ohio State (4,606).

Each individual’s scores will be added to the average of the shooter’s three best season scores this season, to determine the final rankings and the invitations to the NCAA Championships in March.

“I definitely can say that I have more room to improve, but it is quite manageable. But we only have two or three matches left and I think I hit my peak this year,” said Fabijance, the son of John and Cindy Fabijance.

He said that encouraged by his father at a young age, he learned to shoot at the Vienna Fish and Game Club for the Vienna Cougars’ team.

“I have been involved with rifle at the club since I was in the sixth grade and 10 years old. My dad found an article in paper and said, ‘would you like to start shooting competitively.’”

So, “I took a safety course in hunting in Ohio. It was a safety course shooting in all positions. My dad used to hunt and mom’s family hunted.”

Also through family influence and his own sense of patriotism, Fabijance said he has a strong interest in the U.S. military and is considering making it a career after graduation.

“I plan to become a second lieutenant in the Army. I wouldn’t mind making a career of it. My family history has been in the military. I will do eight years and see how it goes from there,” said Fabijance, who plans to join the infantry after graduation in May of 2011.

“Many family members on both [my] mother’s and father’s sides have been in the military,” he pointed out. And, “Everything in the military revolves about defending our liberties.”

Fabijance said that he shoots year-round. “The college rifle season is from August to March with the team, but as a shooter I shoot year-round indoors and outdoors,” he said.

While at Niles High, Fabijance played baseball and the drums in the school band while also competing in rifle for the Vienna Cougars at the Vienna Fish and Game Club.

He said that he was offered a scholarship to Ohio State but declined because, “I liked Akron better even though I wasn’t getting a scholarship there.”

And Akron likes him.