Oklahoma State University’s Flying Aggies defend regional title

Thursday, October 30, 2025

Media Contact: Christy Lang | Director, Marketing and Communications | 405-744-9740 | christy.lang@okstate.edu

The Oklahoma State University Flying Aggies flight team flew back into town as regional champions for the second year in a row after competing in the National Intercollegiate Flying Association Region 4 SAFECON championship.

The OSU flight team came out on top — earning 631 points during the four-day competition, which took place Oct. 13-17 at the Ruston Regional Airport and was hosted by Louisiana Tech University. Region 4 represents schools in five states: Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

The competition pitted a variety of schools with top-notch aviation programs against one another, including Tarrant County College, LeTourneau University, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Stephen F. Austin State University, Louisiana Tech, the University of Oklahoma and Texas State Technical College, at its regional competition. The stakes will continue to rise as the flight team prepares for the National SAFECON competition, which will take place at the Quad Cities International Airport in Moline, Illinois, from May 18-23.

Zach Cohen, a junior aerospace administration and operations student with a concentration in professional pilot, was not only proud of his performance, but was also impressed with his teammates’ performances.

“I got a really good feeling when I started hearing not only my name, not only the people who were on my team, but the other teams were also placing top 10 and top 5,” Cohen said. “I was so happy about my performance overall as an individual, but really the team kicked it out of the park.”

Preparing for the flight team’s regional competition was demanding, rigorous and time-consuming. The flight team met weekly to study and practice for the 40-question ground test at the competition. On top of that, the team met every Sunday for flight team practice.

For Cohen, scheduled practices and rehearsals weren’t enough. Cohen and his teammates met outside of scheduled practices to perfect parts of their performances, like landing.

The extra work took more of Cohen's time, but in the end, his dedication paid off as he placed in all four of his categories. Cohen placed third in Simulated Comprehensive Aircraft Navigation, fourth in Short Field Landings, second in Power-off Landings and third in Top Pilot.

“The weeks that led up to competition, I actually went out on my own and did two to three practices a week with the other pilots,” Cohen said. “That way we could kind of critique each other and help each other get better.”

Cohen acknowledged that having a good leader was important for any team. He thanked his coach, Macy Newman, the team captain, Micah Berger, and co-captain Christopher Hutchins for supporting him and the team during their preparation for the regional competition.

Newman, the OSU Fight Team coach and former team member, was also impressed by the dedication and hard work that each member put into preparing for the competition. She said she offered guidance and assistance, but it was the community within the Flying Aggies that ensured the team was successful at its competition.

“They have put in so much hard work, dedication and commitment to be excellent in their events,” Newman said. “That has shown not only in their love of aviation, but also through the amount of work they have put into their respective ground and flight events, and the scores that they were able to achieve in the placements.”

Ground Events Champion:

Oklahoma State University – 1st place

Flight Events Champion:

Oklahoma State University – 2nd place

Overall Champions:

Oklahoma State University – 1st place

Individual Event Results 

Simulated Comprehensive Aircraft Navigation (SCAN):

Micah Berger – 1st place

Zach Cohen – 3rd place

Olivia Lassman – 4th place

Kai Davis – 7th place

Christopher Hutchins – 10th place

Preflight:

Thomas Kinser – 6th

Nathan Leech – 12th

Aircraft Recognition (RECCE):

Thomas Kinser – 3rd place

Nathan Leech – 4th place

Dayon Wong – 6th place

Myles Gunsolley – 13th place

Ground Trainer: 

Mike Kelly – 7th place

Christopher Hutchins – 8th place

E6B: 

Abby Yates – 2nd place

Colton Williams – 4th place

Olivia Lassman – 5th place

Tyler Lansberry – 7th place

Tu Kuehl – 9th place

Short Field Landings: 

Zach Cohen – 4th place

Nathan Leech – 11th place

Christopher Hutchins – 20th place

Power-Off Landings: 

Mike Kelley – 1st place

Zach Cohen – 2nd place

Christopher Hutchins – 6th place

Micah Berger – 7th place

Zach Puhala – 10th place

Message Drop: 

Myles Gunsolley & Thomas Kinser – 2nd place

Olivia Lassman & Ty Kuehl – 11th place

Zach Berger & Tyler Lansberry – 14th place

Unlimited Navigation: 

Zach Puhala & Tanner Trout – 1st place

Chris Hutchins & Micah Berger – 2nd place 

Mike Kelley & Zach Cohen – 4th place

Top Pilot:  

Christopher Hutchins – 2nd place

Zach Cohen – 3rd place

Outstanding Team Member:

Myles Gunsolley

Story By: Annie Ross | annie.ross@okstate.edu