The Akron Zips are NCAA Division 1 Champions

Proof from the NCAA that firearms really are the great equalizer? University of Akron freshman Jenna Compton (pictured above) became the second Division 1 National Champion in University of Akron history by winning the Air Rifle Division at the 2009 NCAA Rifle Championship. She did so despite being the last of the 48 participants to be invited to the tournament, and despite "having shot an air rifle competitively for only eight months." Notably, NCAA Rifle competition is not broken down by gender.

Compton was born to shoot: "'Shooting is like therapy to me. It gets everything out of my head," she told the Akron Beacon Journal's Tom Gaffney. "'At the beginning of my senior year, I thought I should just concentrate on academics in college, so I applied to schools without rifle. When March came around, I was looking at pictures of the rifle team on the Akron Web site. I realized then that I would miss it. I didn't think I could go a year without it, so I called [31-year Akron U Rifle Coach Newt] Engle.'''

Gaffney reports that "[b]eing the national champion has provided opportunities that were just dreams for [Compton] in the past. She has been asked to become a member of the National Developmental Team by coach Dave Johnson. The team is composed of adults and college students who compete in international events, including the Olympic Games."

But what about other opportunities, like the kind for a type of synergy that's not at all available with respect to the majority of NCAA athletic competitions? 

That is, why don't we have Compton and others like her posted up in Baghdad or Tora Bora? Of course, only if they want to.  But why wouldn't they?  Don't people like doing what they're good at? For Compton, it's therapy after all. Why shouldn't the military sweeten the pot for folks like this, such as with increased pay or a reduced time committment?

It is worth noting that the Father of our Nation, George Washington, would have surely supported such a plan. Remember, he said that: "[f]irearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples' liberty's teeth." And that "[t]he very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all that's good." Yes. Firearms anywhere and everywhere, and especially in the hands of Jenna Compton, staked out in the craggy peaks of Tora Bora. Consider this our open letter to our Federal Representatives, as well as a new addition to the platform for Frownie's mayoral campaign.* Huzzah! And go Zips! National Champs in what George Washington would surely consider the most important NCAA sport.

Thanks to Paul Tople and the ABJ for the photo.