Oct. 15, 2007
FAIRBANKS, AK - Defending NCAA rifle champions, the Alaska Nanook, kicked off the 2007-08 season with a pair of victories over the weekend, outshooting Tennessee-Martin on Saturday and Sunday at the E.F. Horton Rifle Range.
Saturday, the Nanooks outshined the Skyhawks 2,349-2,235 in air rifle and 2,320-2,191 in smallbore for an aggregate 4,669-4,426.
Alaska's Swedish imports, Patrik Sartz and Christofer Olofsson, notched the top marks in air rifle with 592 and 589, respectively, while two rookies rounded out Alaska's scoring team as they made their collegiate shooting debuts: Taylor Beard (587) and Ida Peterson (581).
In the smallbore relays the Nanooks' Jace Bures led with 582 and Sartz 580 was second best. Olofsson and Billy Galligan completed the four-man team, each recording 579.
In Sunday's rematch head coach Dan Jordan split the Nanooks into two teams (Blue and Gold) to compete against the Skyhawks. He distributed the teams well as they tied with 4,625 each to defeat Tennessee-Martin's 4,428.
Prior to the final smallbore relay, Gold carried a 20-point lead in the air rifle discipline, but the Blue Nanooks closed the gap to tie it up in the end.
Blue, who was led by Sartz (586 in air rifle and 578 in smallbore), also rostered Petersen (586, 575), Bures (568, 581) and first-year shooter Cody Rutter (577, 569).
Olofsson, who led the Gold squad with a match-high 593 in air rifle and 578 in smallbore, was supported by Galligan (582,578), Beard (583, 568) and Layne Lewis (579, 564).
With two victories under their belts, the Nanooks head south to Texas and Nebraska next week for their first road trip of the season. They will compete in four road matches beginning on Oct. 22 against Texas-El Paso and followed by Texas Christian (Oct. 24), Nebraska (Oct. 26) and Kentucky (Oct. 27).
Results:
Saturday, October 13:
Team Scores
Individual Scores
Sunday, October 14:
Team Scores
Individual Scores
