Oct. 28, 2006
Complete Results
FAIRBANKS, AK - The Alaska Nanooks rifle team began its defense of the national crown Saturday afternoon with a bang, defeating the United States Naval Academy Midshipmen 4,651-4,583 in the first match of the season.
"They did what I expected," said head coach Dan Jordan. "The match had its high points and overall it was a good performance but there are still things and some pressure issues to improve upon."
Jordan placed three freshmen on the starting line to help them gain some experience early in the season.
Freshman Patrik Sartz (Stora Sundby, Sweden) took little time to make an impact on the team as he shot the match-high in air rifle with a 593 to lead Alaska to a 41-point victory over the Midshipmen (2,350-2,309). Also contributing for the Nanooks were Christian Lejon (Umea, Sweden) with a 590, senior all-american Matt Rawlings (Wharton, TX) with a 585 and freshman Becky Hersberger (Bedford, PA) with a 582.
"Patrik should be one of our primary starters this season," said Jordan. "He's been in a lot of big matches around the world, so he already has some good experience to build off of."
Navy's Chris Schneider shot the match-high in smallbore with a 584 but Alaska's overall score gave the Nanooks the smallbore title, too, outscoring Navy 2,301-2,274. Lejon shot a team-high (second overall) 582, while Rawlings was next best with a 577, followed by Sartz (575) and redshirt freshman Billy Galligan (Eagle River, AK), who rounded out the team effort with a 567.
The Nanooks will host a match against the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers on Monday starting at 8:00 a.m. AST in the E.F. Horton Rifle Range. The match finals will be shot at 1:30 p.m. AST.
