ST. LOUIS - A team of aviation science students from Saint Louis University’s School of Science and Engineering placed high enough this weekend to secure a spot in the 2026 National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA) Competition. This is the third straight year the team has qualified for the national competition.
SLU pilots prepare a plane for the landing event in the 2025 National Intercollegiate Flying Association Competition's Region VI and VIII SAFECON event hosted at St. Louis Downtown Airport on October 15, 2025. Photo by Sarah Conroy.
The Flying Billikens from SLU’s Oliver L. Parks Department of Aviation Science hosted NIFA's 2025 Region VI and VIII SAFECON event Oct. 13-18 at the St. Louis Downtown Airport.
Ten teams from Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota competed in a variety of aviation exercises. Competitors were challenged in events which included navigation, short-field landing, power-off landing, message drop, ground trainer, aircraft recognition and computer accuracy.
Winners were announced at a banquet on Saturday.
The Flying Billikens secured the top spot in two categories, with Sam Kean taking top honors in the ground trainer category and Brendan Stoll and Jack Ingebretsen taking first place in traditional navigation.
Individual honors were awarded to the following Flying Billikens:
Traditional Navigation
- Brendan Stoll and Jack Ingebretsen, 1st place
- Finn Ceyssens and Peter Belmonte, 2nd place
- Sydney Nimerick and Sam Kean, 3rd place.
Ground Trainer
- Sam Kean, 1st place
- Sehwan Park, 5th place
- Peter Belmonte, 8th place
Aircraft Preflight
- Jack Ingebretsen, 8th place
- Sydney Nimerick, 13th place
Message Drop
- Evan August and Brendan Stoll, 8th place
Aircraft Recognition
- Daniel McGill, 9th place
Short Field Landing
- Christian Brickman, 10th place
Computer Accuracy
- Sehwan Park, 15th place
Power-Off Landing
- Peter Belmonte, 15th place
Simulated Comprehensive Aircraft Navigation
- Peter Belmonte, 10th place
- Sydney Nimerick, 12th place
Top Pilot
- Sydney Nimerick, 11th place
- Brendan Stoll, 12th place
- Finn Ceyssens, 13th place
The 2025 Flying Billikens at the NIFA's 2025 Region VI and VIII SAFECON award ceremony Oct. 18 at Saint Louis University. Submitted photo.
The Flying Billikens placed fourth overall and fourth in both ground and flight events. The team’s executive student board includes Brendan Stoll, Sydney Nimerick and Sehwan Park.
The National Intercollegiate Flying Association was formed to develop and advance aviation education; promote, encourage and foster aviation safety; promote and foster communications and cooperation between aviation students, educators, educational institutions and the aviation industry; and provide an arena for collegiate aviation competition.
The national competition will take place May 18-23, 2026, at the Quad Cities International Airport.
About the School of Science and Engineering
Saint Louis University formed the School of Science and Engineering in 2022 to better meet the future needs of its students and faculty. The school brings together select departments from the College of Arts and Sciences — chemistry, computer science, earth and atmospheric sciences, and physics — with the former Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology. To learn more about the School of Science and Engineering, visit slu.edu/science-and-engineering.
