FAIRBANKS – For the first time since 2007, the Alaska rifle team will compete for another NCAA Championship on home soil, as the No. 2 nationally ranked Nanooks search for their 11th crown since 1994 and fourth of the last decade.
Dates: Friday, March 13 & Saturday, March 14
Location: University of Alaska Fairbanks Patty Center
Tickets: Purchase Here
Live Stats: sidearmstats.com/uaf/rifle/UAF.htm
Live Video: www.ncaa.com/liveschedule
Alaska hosts the NCAA Rifle Championships for the second time in its history, the first in 2007 where it set the all-time attendance record and won its ninth title. The following season, the Nanooks also won the team competition, giving them ten titles, second on the all-time list.
INFORMATION BROCHURE
16-time and current twice-defending national champion West Virginia is currently ranked No. 1 in the country and will serve to be Alaska's stiffest competition at the event that begins on Friday. The Mountaineers have won three titles since 2009 and are looking for their third straight. Texas Christian University and Kentucky have both won titles in recent years and will be at this year's championships while Jacksonville State, Murray State, Nebraska and the United States Air Force Academy round out the eight teams selected.
Each team selects five individuals for the competition, and Alaska has chosen Ryan Anderson, Mats Eriksson, Tim Sherry, Lorelie Stanfield and Sagaen Maddalena as its team to fire the Nanooks to glory.
All five shooters will compete in both the smallbore competition and the air rifle portion of events. The smallbore competition begins on Friday and will last from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. with the individual finals slated from 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. The day is broken up into four relays, with indiviudals from each team shooting throughout the day. Alaska will have one shooter during the 8-9:45 a.m./10:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and 4:15-6:00 p.m. slots as well as two in the 1:30 p.m.-3:15 p.m. slot.
Those shots will all be fired in the E.F. Horton Rifle Range on Friday, as the first ever NCAA Rifle Championship Fanfest will be taking place in the Patty Gymnasium from noon-8:00 p.m. during competition.
FANFEST INFORMATION
On Saturday, the air rifle competition will move to the Patty Gymnasium with team relays lasting from 8:00 a.m. – 1:45 p.m. , followed by individual finals. Similarly to the smallbore portion, teams are spread throughout the day, as two Nanooks will shoot in the first and third relays (8:00-9:15 a.m./12:30 p.m.-1:45 p.m.) and one Nanook in the second relay from 10:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Individual finals are set to begin around 2:00 p.m. followed by the awards ceremony.
In addition to the eight teams in competition, individual qualifiers from Memphis, Ohio State, Mississippi, Tennessee-Martin, Nevada, Akron and the United States Naval Academy will be vying for an individual championship.
Prior to competition beginning, The NCAA Rifle Championship Banquet will be held on Thursday, March 12 at the Westmark Hotel. The banquet begins at 6:30 p.m. and is open to the public with the purchase of a ticket at this link.
