University of Alaska Fairbanks Athletics

Match Results
 
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The third-ranked Alaska rifle program fired the top team score in smallbore but No. 1 West Virginia pulled away during the air rifle relay to earn a 4709-4680 victory Friday at the Mountaineer Rifle Range.
 
The Nanooks (9-1, 3-0 PRC) fell for the first time this season in a dual match, ending a 10-match win streak dating back nearly one calendar year. The Mountaineers (9-0, 6-0 GARC) fell by three points in smallbore but claimed the overall win after outscoring Alaska 2380-2348 in air gun.
 
"The biggest thing is getting them to believe in themselves," head coach Dan Jordan said. "They are as good a team as anybody and showed that in smallbore today. The biggest thing we need to work on and we talked about it is getting the confidence back and believing in our air gun."
 
Sophomore Lorelie Stanfield (Fairbanks, Alaska/English) led all shooters in smallbore with a 587 as Alaska won the first relay 2332-2329.
 
"To have the high score on the line with that level of two good teams out there is impressive," Jordan said. "Against Ohio State, she shot a personal-best 588 so she was one point off that today. She's turning into a solid, dependable shooter."
 
Junior Mats Eriksson (Malung, Sweden/Business Administration) was fourth with a 583 while junior Ryan Anderson (Great Falls, Va./Biological Sciences) and sophomore Tim Sherry (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mechanical Engineering) seventh and eighth, respectively, with scores of 582 and 580. Senior Mike Liuzza (New Orleans, La./Business Administration) rounded out the relay with a 575.
 
WVU took the second and third-best scores in smallbore with a 586 by Thomas Kyanko and a 584 by Ziva Dvorsak.
 
In air rifle, Sherry led the Nanooks with the fifth-best score of 591. The Nanooks Anderson followed with a 589 while Liuzza and Eriksson fired 584s and Stanfield added a 583.
 
West Virginia turned in the top-four individual scores in air gun, led by Maren Prediger's match-high 597. One point back was Dvorsak, followed by a 594 by Garrett Spurgeon and Kynako's 593.
 
Alaska will now turn its attention to the program's first-ever conference championship opportunity as it will face five other teams for the Patriot Rifle Conference Championship this Saturday and Sunday in Columbus, Ohio, on the campus of Ohio State.
 
"It will be a good experience for them and a good chance to see the format a little bit," Jordan said. I'll tell them to just go in there and enjoy it. It's the first match [for them] at the conference championship and we'll go in there and be a part of it, remember it and try to shoot some good scores." 
 
Mirroring the NCAA Championship format, the teams will shoot the smallbore portion of the match on Saturday, followed by air rifle on Sunday to determine the first Patriot Rifle Conference champion. Saturday's session begins at 9 a.m. EST with Sunday's match starting at 8 a.m. EST.
 
Live targets will be available for the PRC Championship:
·         First Smallbore Relay
·         Second Smallbore Relay
·         First Air Rifle Relay
·         Second Air Rifle Relay