Tyler Rico

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Class: Freshman Hometown: Tucson, AZ Position: Air/Smallbore

2012-2013: All-American (air rifle) - Freshman Tyler Rico, is also firing high scores at the line ... At the 2012 Winter Air Gun Championships, at the Olympic Training Center on Nov. 30, Rico was the men's air rifle runner-up finishing with 696.2 aggregate points ... He was the junior men's air rifle champion with 698.2 points ... Rico was the Falcons' overall winner of the air rifle match with 590/600 points against Nebraska on Jan. 12 ... In the match against UTEP on Feb. 9, Rico had a solid 200 in prone ... He added a 181 in standing and 191 in kneeling to finish with 572 points in smallbore ... At the qualifiers (Feb. 16) Rico fired a perfect 100 in the first round of the smallbore prone ... He totaled 576 points in the match ... He finished with 587 points in air rifle ... Following the 2013 NCAA Rifle National Championships, Rico was awarded the first team air rifle All-American honor ... On March 8, Rico placed 14th in the gun with 577 points in smallbore ... On March 9, Rico finished in 10th place with 590 points with a 197, 196, 197 and 49.9 in the shoot offs.

BEFORE THE ACADEMY: Graduated from Flowing Wells High School in Tucson, Ariz. ... coached by Maj Robert L. DeWitt ... competed in rifle and earned multiple individual national titles ... rifle team placed in nationals his sophomore through senior years ... his earned four varsity letters in rifle, three in marching band ... made honor roll every semester ... parents are Cecil and Victoria Rico ... has one sister, Brianna ... hobbies include boxing, jui jitsu, krav maga, hiking, fishing and music.

ACADEMY: Intended major is aeronautical engineering ... would like to attend pilot training and eventually fly the A-10 ... eventually he would like to have a career in a defense company as an engineer ... presently, he is a member of Cadet Squadron 17 - Stalag.

Personal: He began shooting rifle in April 2005 in Tucson. "My father and I started shooting competitively at the same match." He came to the Academy, because of "the great coaching staff and the close proximity to the Olympic Training Center."