Results
AKRON, Ohio -- Junior Sagen Maddalena shot a combined 1,178 on the day to lead the No. 2-ranked Alaska Nanooks rifle team to a 4,661-4,598 victory over No. 14-ranked Akron on Thursday afternoon.
Maddalena was nearly perfect in the air rifle, as she hit the bullseye in four of her six rounds to take the top spot in event with a score of 597. The junior followed up with second-place finish in the smallbore, as she posted a 581. Maddalena's combined score of 1,178 was tops on the day, as she helped Alaska improve to 3-0 on the year.
The Nanooks took four of the top five spots in both the air rifle and smallbore on Thursday to post a score of 4,661 against the Zips, who shot a 4,598. Akron's Zach Strohl took second in the air rifle with a score of 588-42x, but it would be Alaska shooters taking the final three spots in the event, as Luke Johnson took third (588-38x), Tim Sherry placed fourth (587) and freshman JT Schnering collected a fifth-place finish with his 582 mark.
Head coach Dan Jordan was proud that his team was able to push through and get the victory, and stated that he got some key performances from Maddalena and Schnering.
"Rough day for a couple of people, but Sagen did well in air gun, which is nice to see her back in full form," said the head coach. "JT really stepped up in his first college road trip and is proving to be a contributor to the team. Everyone is really excited about the Zippy Open this weekend, and we will see some better scores, I'm sure."
In the smallbore, it was Alaska once again taking four of the five top spots, as Tim Sherry took first place with his 584 finish. Maddalena placed three points behind her teammate to finish second, while Strohl (576-29x) once again prevented the Nanooks from a clean sweep of the top five spots by finishing third. Schnering followed up with a 576-27x and senior Jaimie Barnes rounded out the top five with her score of 573.
The Nanooks will be back in action this Saturday, as they'll take on some of the nation's best at the Zippy Open, which will be held in Akron, Ohio. Alaska will be on the line with No. 1 West Virginia, No. 4 Murray State and No. 5 Kentucky.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks rifle team, follow @NanooksRifle on Twitter or like Alaska Nanooks rifle on Facebook.
