University of Alaska Fairbanks Athletics

Match Results

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – No. 1 Alaska opened up its first collegiate rifle match of 2014 on a winning note, downing the seventh-ranked Air Force Academy 4680-4624 on Thursday afternoon at the Olympic Training Center.
 
The Nanooks improved to 7-0 in dual matches this year after registering scores of 2359 in air rifle and 2321 in smallbore. The Falcons fell to 3-2 on the season after putting together a 2325 in air gun and 2299 in smallbore.
 
"This is actually the third or fourth day straight  that they are shooting and we still have three more days to go," head coach Dan Jordan said. "This match was really one to get back into the collegiate season but it's also a good one because we're really working on endurance."
 
The squad was led by junior Mats Eriksson (Malung, Sweden/Business Administration), who tied for match-highs with a 592 in air rifle and a 582 in smallbore. Junior Ryan Anderson (Great Falls, Va./Biological Sciences) also had a 592 in air gun while sophomore Tim Sherry (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mechanical Engineering) tied Eriksson with a 582 in smallbore.
 
"Ryan is coming off a bunch of good matches and he's mentally exhausted," Jordan said. "There's been a lot of big matches and a lot of good training [for Ryan] and he's also studying to take the MCAT's, so he was all about energy management today."
 
Other air rifle scores included a 589 by sophomore Lorelie Stanfield (Fairbanks, Alaska/English), a 586 by senior Mike Liuzza (New Orleans, La./Business Administration) and a 585 by Sherry.
 
On the smallbore side, other scores by the Nanooks included a 580 by Anderson, 577 by Liuzza and 574 by Stanfield. During the 20 shots of prone in smallbore, Liuzza, Sherry and Stanfield all led the match with a perfect 200.
 
Three other Nanooks were also on the trip and competed but not toward the team score. Freshman Dan Geer (Colorado Springs, Colo./Business Administration) turned in a 582 in air rifle and 573 in smallbore and sophomore Jaimie Barnes (Fairbanks, Alaska/Justice) turned in scores of 573 and 571 in her first career road trip. Sophomore Alex Nardone (Winchester, Mass./Business Administration) also added a 565 and 547.
 
For the Falcons, Meredith Carpentier fired a 592 in air rifle to match Eriksson and Anderson for the match-best score while David Higgins led AFA with a 576 in smallbore.
 
"When we come home, for those on the road trip, they will take it easy," Jordan said. "They'll take a couple days at home to get back in the groove but to also come back and recover from this long week. It's going to be light training and get ready to shoot hard in those matches [at home]."
 
The Nanooks will compete the next two days in qualifiers for the U.S.A. World Cup and will shoot against the U.S. National Team in an exhibition on Sunday before returning home.