FAIRBANKS – In a match that was decided by the narrowest of margins, the No. 2 Alaska Nanook rifle team bested No. 1 West Virginia by one shot, 4706-4705 on Sunday afternoon at the E.F. Horton Rifle Range. This match marked the first time that the two top-ranked teams shot over 4,700 on the same day.
For the second consecutive day, the two teams split event wins with the Nanooks winning the smallbore competition by ten shots, 2337-2327. The Nanooks, in the win, handed the Mountaineers their first loss on the season and close out their home regular season schedule on a winning note.
Mats Eriksson was Alaska's top shooter in the smallbore with a 586, though the Nanooks top-five were bunched together, with all five scoring within five points of each other.
Ryan Anderson (585), Tim Sherry (584), Lorelie Stanfield (582) and Soren Butler (581) were all impressive for the Nanooks. Eriksson and Stanfield each shot a perfect 100 in their Prone 2 stance while Sherry and Butler shot a perfect 100 in their Prone 1 stance.
Thomas Kyanko was the top shooter for West Virginia in the smallbore, as he shot a 589 including perfect 100s in both the Prone 1 and Prone 2 stances.
In the air rifle, though Alaska's score of 2,369 was nine behind West Virginia's, its shooting was strong as the Sagen Maddalena and Anderson led the Nanooks with scores of 594.
Luke Johnson was right behind the top-two shooters for Alaska with a shot total of 591 while Eriksson shot 590 and Sherry had a 588 to complete a distinguished day. Every shooter in the top-five for Alaska had at least one round of a perfect 100, while the Nanooks had 11 perfect air rifle rounds, overall.
Maren Prediger and Ziva Dvorsak each shot a 596 in air rifle to lead the Mountaineers.
The Nanooks now head to Colorado where they will face the University of Nevada (Feb. 5) prior to the Patriot Rifle Conference Championships on February 7 and 8.
