Jan. 19, 2008
By Bob Eley
Staff Writer
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Published January 19, 2008
The Alaska Nanooks rifle team started off the second half of its season in style with a victory over the University of West Virginia on Friday.
West Virginia took the smallbore portion of the match by 12 points, but the Nanooks had an outstanding air rifle day and won that portion by 39 points to claim a 4,653-4,626 victory in Morgantown, W.V.
"All-in-all, it was a pretty good day for just coming off the break," third-year Alaska coach Dan Jordan said via telephone Friday evening. "We had some pretty good highs and only a couple of lows."
The Nanooks had the top three air rifle shooters -- junior Christofer Olofsson of Sweden (593), freshman Cody Rutter of Palmyra, Pa. (591) and freshman Taylor Beard of Parker, Colo. (590). Junior Patrik Sartz of Sweden rounded out the team with a 583.
The Nanooks won the air rifle event 2,357-2,318.
The top three Nanooks joined Jordan and sophomore teammates Jace Bures of Odell, Neb., and Billy Galligan of Eagle River for a camp with the U.S. National Development Team during the holiday break at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
"Those three shot really well for us today," said Jordan, referring to his top three air rifle shooters.
Sartz, who had been the Nanooks' top shooter on the season, is still recovering from an illness he incurred while traveling in Mexico during the break.
"He was pretty sick for a while and he's still a little worn down," Jordan said. "He'll start doing a lot better when he gets on an East Coast schedule."
Rutter's effort was the biggest surprise of the day.
"We brought him in as a freshman in the hope that he would develop over time," Jordan said. "He didn't make our first road trip (last fall), but he's worked really hard and then a couple of weeks ago he really started turning it on."
In the smallbore competition, the Nanooks were led by Olofsson with a 579, followed by Sartz at 574, Galligan at 573 and Bures at 570. The Nanooks wound up on the short end of a 2,308-2,296 score in the event.
"Nobody shot extremely well today," Jordan said. "We had some good individual positions, but nothing great overall."
West Virginia was led by Brandi Eskew and Lafe Kunkel, who had the top two scores of the day -- 585 and 580, respectively.
"They had a pretty good day in smallbore, but they've been doing that all season," Jordan said of the Mountaineers.
Jordan brought eight shooters on the trip, so the Nanooks could field two full teams.
The second air rifle team notched a 2,317, led by freshman Ida Petersen of Fairbanks with 582. Galligan scored 581, Bures posted 578 and sophomore Layne Lewis of Fairbanks had 576.
In smallbore, the Nanooks' second squad registered a 2,271. Rutter and Beard led the way with scores of 574, followed by Lewis with a 571 and Petersen with a 552.
In a homecoming for Rutter, Alaska will shoot in the Palmyra Invitational on Sunday in Pennsylvania. The trip concludes with matches against Army in West Point, N.Y., on Tuesday and Navy on Thursday in Annapolis, Md.
"It should give us a pretty good indication of where we stand this season," Jordan said.
The 6-1 Nanooks are two-time defending NCAA champions and have won nine out of the last 10 NCAA championships.
