Jacksonville University Flight Team Takes 3rd at Regional Competition and Advances to Nationals in Oshkosh, With 3 Second-Place Finishes

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Jacksonville University's flight team finished third overall at the 2026 SAFECON Region IX competition and advanced to the national level, the university announced Nov. 3. The team also placed third in flight events and third in the Judges Award category, according to Jacksonville University. It will compete at nationals this spring in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, though the university's announcement does not give exact dates.

The regional was organized by the National Intercollegiate Flying Association, known as NIFA, and hosted by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. Jacksonville University said the event drew more than 80 collegiate aviators and that flight events were held at Massey Ranch Airpark. Competitors dealt with strong winds all week, the university's account says.

What SAFECON tests

SAFECON stands for the Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference, a series of regional and national contests for college flying teams run by NIFA. The events are a mix of in-the-air flying and ground-based skills, which is why the university's results include categories such as preflight inspection, instrument simulator and traditional navigation. Jacksonville University says the team's third-place regional finish earned it the trip to nationals.

The Jacksonville University announcement lists a team result in three categories: overall, flight events and the Judges Award. It does not publish point totals or the full regional standings, so how far the Dolphins finished behind the top two teams is not stated. The article does mention LaGrange College, whose competitor was paired with a Jacksonville University student in one event.

Individual and team placings

The university's list shows three second-place finishes and several top-five results. The table below lists every placing in the announcement. Nationals are in Oshkosh, according to the university.

Two competitors appear repeatedly. Andrew Matticola placed in five events, including second in Power-On Landings, and Mya Lee placed in four, including second in Message Drop. The E6B is the hand-held flight computer pilots use for calculations such as fuel and wind, which is the event Kendall Boyer placed tenth in.

Behind the results

The Jacksonville University account says some competitors wore costumes for the Message Drop event. The three second-place finishes came from Landon Turley in Preflight Inspection, Mya Lee in Message Drop and Andrew Matticola in Power-On Landings. The university's write-up does not describe how any of the events are scored.

The university's article was written by Grace Andrew, who also appears in the results table as part of a Traditional Navigation pair. Outside the contests, the account says team members spent time at the beach and played mini golf and pickleball. Those details were part of the university's own write-up of the trip.

Why it matters locally

Jacksonville University is on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, and its flight team's regional result puts a local college program on the national stage this spring. The announcement says the team will compete at the national level in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, though it does not give dates or say how many teams will be there. The result also shows the team doing well in both flying and ground events, since its third-place finish came in the overall, flight-event and Judges Award categories.

The result continues a theme in the school's recent news. In the weeks before the announcement, Jacksonville University also reported its Homecoming and Family Weekend, the naming of its 2026 Distinguished Alumni and a Marine Science Research Institute workshop with NOAA, according to the university's news page. For the flight team, the next steps are to prepare for the national competition, where the schedule and field will be published by NIFA.

Where to learn more

The full announcement is on the Jacksonville University news page at ju.edu. Information about the competition, regions and national schedule is published by the National Intercollegiate Flying Association. Readers interested in aviation education in the Jacksonville area can ask the university directly about program details, because the announcement does not describe the curriculum.