Nov. 12, 2006
Results
By Bob Eley, Sports Editor, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Published November 13, 2006
Posted in Sports
The defending NCAA champion Alaska Nanooks turned back a challenge from the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in a collegiate rifle match that was shot on Sunday at Murray State University in Kentucky.
Jacksonville State's Michael Dickinson posted the top scores in both air rifle and smallbore, but the Nanooks team depth was too much as Alaska came away with an 15-point victory, 4,678-4,663.
The Nanooks held a 2,322-2,311 advantage in the smallbore competition and won the air gun event by a 2,356-2,352 margin.
"Jacksonville State has a very good team," Alaska coach Dan Jordan said in a telephone interview Sunday evening. "I think they are going to be one of the top three or four teams in the country this season."
The Nanooks scores were an improvement over the results of the first matches of the season that were held last month against Navy and Nebraska at the E.F. Horton range in the Patty Center.
"We shot much better today and things are starting to come together for us," Jordan said. "We had one guy who was a little bit off in each discipline today, so I think you'll see us put up a pretty good score later this week if we can get all four guys to have a good day at the same time."
The Nanooks are scheduled to shoot against Murray State on Tuesday, against Kentucky on Thursday and against Texas-El Paso on Saturday before returning home next Sunday.
The Nanooks' scoring shooters on Sunday were seniors Matthias Dierolf, Christian Lejon and Matthew Rawlings and freshman Paatrik Sartz.
Lejon led the smallbore squad with a 582, while Rawlings and Dierolf posted scores of 581 and Sartz came in at 578. Jacksonville State's Dickinson posted a 586.
Sartz, Dierolf and Lejon all scored 591 the air gun event and Rawlings registered a 582. Dickinson was the top gun again with a 593.
Jordan also has two freshman along on the trip -- Jace Bures of Odell, Neb., and William Galligan of Fairbanks.
Bures posted personal best scores of 580 in smallbore and 582 in air rifle. Galligan had a 578 in smallbore and a 564 in air rifle.
