Indiana University of Pennsylvania Athletics

Tom Campisano participated in soccer and wrestling as an IUP freshman, but he really made his mark coaching marksmen.
Under Campisano's guidance, rifle was distinguished not only by its status as a coed sport, but by its distinction as the most successful program on campus, based on winning percentage. For example, in a 10-year stretch beginning with the 1970-71 season, IUP won 88.3 percent of its matches (129-16).  Highlights in that period included a perfect season (10-0) in 1978-79 and three consecutive 15-1 records.
Campisano worked this magic despite budget constraints that limited recruiting and prevented the team from practicing more than twice a week. He compiled a 200-47 record (.810) as IUP's coach, especially notable in that the Indians were fed a regular diet of big-name opponents such as Pitt, Penn State, Duquesne, Army and West Virginia, a 13-time NCAA Division I champion. What's more, his teams won 12 Western Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Rifle League titles and earned runner-up honors on numerous other occasions.
The Indians were especially dominant in the 1970s, reeling off seven consecutive league championships beginning in 1974 and capturing 10 in an 11-year span.  IUP also won 51 league matches in succession during the decade.
By the time rifle was discontinued as a varsity sport in 1990, Campisano had put in 23 years as coach. Only the legendary George Miller and current cross country/track and field coach Ed Fry have served the university longer.
Campisano was a shooter himself before turning to coaching.  After graduating from Indiana High School in 1953, he entered the service and developed into an outstanding marksman.  Campisano was awarded a National Rifle Association Bronze Medal in 1961 for ranking 54th of all U.S. shooters, and in 1980 won a state championship in the six-inch class for .38-caliber pistols. He was a member of the IUP varsity for three years and even coached the team for a season while still a student, guiding the Indians to an Allegheny Intercollegiate Rifle League title.
After graduating in 1966, Campisano spent one year teaching at Westmont High School in suburban Johnstown before returning to his hometown.  He worked for 31 years as an art teacher at Indiana Junior High School before retiring in 1998.
Campisano, who earned a master’s in education degree from his alma mater in 1974, still coaches IUP rifle on campus, only now it's a club team he directs. Campisano also spent eight seasons as an assistant coach with the Indiana High School rifle squad.
He and his wife, Elvira, have three children- Tom and Michael, who both shot for their father at IUP, and Angela, a member of Indiana High's 1991 WPIAL champion rifle team.  The Campisano’s also have a grandson, Vincent.