FREMONT – After eight years as the head coach for Midland University shotgun, Bret Erickson has announced his retirement. Erickson, a Blair, Nebraska native and a Midland alumnus (’82), was named the inaugural coach of the program back in the fall of 2012 and has built the Warriors into one of the top teams competing in the ACUI (Association of College Unions – International).
“We are grateful for Bret’s dedication in not only starting the shotgun sports program here at Midland but also building the program into one of the best in the nation over the past eight years,” said Dave Gillespie, Midland Director of Athletics. “Under his guidance, we’ve consistently been in contention as a team at national shooting contests and have won numerous events and conference titles. His knowledge of the sport and experience competing at the highest level has been invaluable to our student-athletes and will be dearly missed. We want to wish him the best in his retirement.”
Before becoming the head coach at Midland, Erickson had a distinguished career as a marksman on the national stage. Erickson was a member of the USA National Shooting team for 25 years with accolades and accomplishments that include being a six-time national champion and a member of four USA Olympic teams (1992, 1996, 2004, and 2008).
From 2010 to 2012 he served as the national shotgun coach and was head of the resident athlete training program at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. While there he coached the USA Shooting National Team, National Development Team, and the National Junior Team.
During his tenure at Midland, Erickson’s team has never placed lower than third in its conference and is currently on a four-year run as conference champions (2016-2019). Midland has found success on the national level during this time and has risen to be one of the premier shooting teams in the country. Over the past five years, the Warriors have placed in the top four of their division in each season and captured the 2016 ACUI Division II National Championship.
In conjunction with Erickson’s retirement, current graduate assistant coach Jake McThenia will be promoted to become the second head coach in the program’s history. McThenia, a 2018 Midland graduate, was a four-year member of the shotgun team and has been a graduate assistant coach in charge of recruitment for the past two seasons.
“When tasked with finding a suitable replacement for Coach Erickson, Jake was the logical pick,” added Gillespie on the new hiring. “Coach McThenia was a successful shooter for our team as a student-athlete and has been a great addition to our staff for the past two years serving as an assistant. He was a part of the foundation of the program and is the perfect person to lead the program going forward.”
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