Feb. 11, 2007
Complete Results
FAIRBANKS, Alaska - The Alaska Nanooks rifle team continued its defense of the national crown and remaining unbeaten, knocking off the University of Missouri Kansas-City Sunday, 4,675-4,469, to complete the sweep of the two-day competition against the Kangaroos.
The Nanooks got an early advantage after the first day of relays in the air gun, besting UMKC 2,360-2,240. They bolstered the margin Sunday, outscoring the Kangaroos 2,315-2,270 in the small bore relays.
Senior Christian Lejon (Umea, Sweden) led the second day of competition notching a 584 in the smallbore relay. Alaska's other three starters finished within one point of each other as senior Mattias Dierolf (Uttenhofen, Germany) registered a 578, Senior Matt Rawlings (Wharton, TX) had a 577 and freshman Jace Bures (Odell, NE) tallied a 576.
"Almost everyone shot well today," said head coach Dan Jordan. "Jace Bures was put on the starting team for smallbore and really stepped up for a freshman."
Jordan also noted a personal best performance by freshman shooter and Fairbanks native Layne Lewis, whose 577 has given him a chance to qualify as an individual for the championships.
Rawlings led the scoring team air rifle with a 596 in Saturday's match, hitting three perfect bull's-eye shots en route to his season-high performance. The Swedes (Lejon and Sartz) contributed scores of 589 and 588, respectively, and Dierolf rounded out the starting line with a 587.
Scores from this meet, along with an average of a shooters top three scores from competition matches during the regular season, will be used to rank competitors eligible to compete in the 2007 NCAA Rifle Championships. The top eight teams will be determined based on an average of the three highest aggregate (smallbore and air rifle) regular season scores, with not more than one match at any given site. That average score will then be added to the score attained at the designated qualifier to determine the top eight teams. Additional individual qualifiers will be selected using the same criteria.
According to Jordan, whose team is 24-0 since he took over the program two years ago, it appeared as though the Nanooks had swept the NCAA Qualifying awards for the best team and individual scores in both disciplines.
The Nanooks, who are the official hosts of the 2007 NCAA Men's and Women's Rifle Championships, broke in their new electronic target scoring system this weekend against UMKC.
Alaska will have four weeks to prepare before the qualifying rifle teams and individuals shooters arrive in Fairbanks on March 7 for the 2007 NCAA Men's and Women's Rifle Championships, March 9-10.
