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Match Results]
FAIRBANKS, AK - On Friday, the Alaska Nanooks shot the highest rifle score in the nation this season — and they're not satisfied.
“There's still points to pick up, for sure,” Alaska coach
Dan Jordan said after the third-ranked Nanooks topped Air Force, 4,680-4,600.
The score is the highest for the program since a 4,688 against Army during the 2007-08 campaign.
The Nanooks had the potential to tally 4,690 on Friday at the E.F. Horton Rifle Range had Jordan selected a couple different shooters to count for the four-person team score.
“We would have picked up nine points if I would have put
Taylor (Beard (Parker, CO)) on the (air rifle) team instead of
Jace (Bures (Odell, NE)),” Jordan said.
Shooting as an individual, Beard put up 587 points out of a possible 600 while Bures scored 578 after a rough last string of shots.
Freshman
Dustin Chesebro (Laramie, WY) was on fire and posted 597, senior
Patrik Sartz (Stora Sundby, Sweden) had 591 and junior
Cody Rutter (Palmyra, PA) scored 590 as the Nanooks amassed 2,356 in air gun.
Chesebro connected for 29 consecutive 10s to shoot a personal best.
“You get into (a zone) where you kind of black out a little bit,” Chesebro said. “Not black out where you fall down, but there are shots that I can't even remember today.”
In smallbore, Rutter (588), Sartz (584), senior
William Galligan (Eagle River, AK) (580) and Bures (575) combined for a 2,324. Shooting as individuals,
Layne Lewis (Fairbanks, AK) had 576 and
Scott Franz (Livermore, CO) scored 575.
Word of the Nanooks' 4,680 will quickly travel to top-ranked West Virginia and second-ranked Kentucky.
“They'll definitely notice it,” Chesebro said. “It's going around as we speak.”
The all-day meet ended with a 10-shot standing smallbore final featuring the top four shooters from each team going head-to-head, one shot at a time.
The final was for fun and had no bearing on the outcome of the meet, but that didn't mean it wasn't competitive.
In the top pairing, Air Force's Tom Chandler bested Rutter, 100.2-96.7, while in the second pairing Sartz topped Mike Seery, 100-96.
Sartz wasn't too worried that he shot 9.1 on his final attempt and was overtaken by Chandler for the highest score in the final.
“That will do,” Sartz said of his 100 score. “That's nothing to be ashamed of.”
Meanwhile, Galligan edged Air Force's Pat Everson, and Nick Krieger got the best of Alaska's Lewis in their pairings.
Because Alaska and Air Force each had two winners in the head-to-head competition, Jordan called for a one-shot shoot-off to break the tie.
Sartz was initially selected, but he gave the pressure-packed shot to a teammate with less experience.
“Galligan, you got it,” Sartz said.
Galligan, from Eagle River, lined up against the Air Force's Chandler for what Jordan jokingly called “the championship of the world.”
Galligan pulled the trigger first and was displeased with his 9.7 (on a 10.9 scale). But then Chandler, whose lowest score during the final was 9.3, managed just 9.0.
“I didn't think it would hold,” Galligan said later. “I definitely got lucky.”
The teams meet again today beginning at 8 a.m. An air gun final will conclude the weekend at 6 p.m.
