PALMYRA, Penn. -- 2014 NCAA Smallbore Champion Tim Sherry collected a pair of top scores in both the smallbore and air rifle on Sunday afternoon to help the No. 5-ranked Alaska Nanooks rifle team post a 4,682 at the Palmyra Invitational.
"It was a good start coming back, said head coach Dan Jordan. "We had a lot of practice matches during the break where the team was shooting well. They had a really good practice match last week and that carried over into today. It feel good to be back in the swing of competition, and today is a good warmup for us as we start building towards March."
Sherry, who is also a multi All-American, got his day started by shooting a 595 in the air rifle. Sherry's accuracy was on display during his fourth and sixth rounds of shots, as he drilled the bullseye in both rounds. He returned to the range later in the day and scored a team-best 588 in the smallbore. The Highlands Ranch, Colorado native scored a perfect 100 in his first shot from the kneeling and prone positions on Sunday. The All-American led the way for the Nooks on Sunday, as he shot a team-best 1,183 combined score.
"We worked on a lot of things and had some productive training over the break," stated Jordan of Sherry. "He had one of those slow periods at the end of last semester, but Tim is a great competitor and we knew he would come back strong in the second semester. He is the type of shooter that normally progresses as the year goes along and today was further proof of that."
 Sagen did well. She didn't have a chance to practice smallbore, because she was shooting air rifle. For her to be where she was is just fine.
Alaska opened Sunday by shooting a 2,357 in the air rifle. Redshirt sophomore Sagen Maddalena, who was returning to action for the Nooks after winning the Silver Medal in the air rifle at the Swedish Grand Prix earlier this week, shot a 592 in her return to collect the second-highest score for Alaska in the event. Like Sherry, Maddalena hit the bullseye in two of her rounds, with hers coming in the second and fifth time she shot.
Freshman JT Schnerring posted a record score for the Nooks on Sunday, as he collected a 588, and sophomore Luke Johnson tallied the fourth-highest score in the air rifle by shooting a 582 in his first action in his home state of Pennsylvania for Alaska.
The No. 5-ranked team in the country rounded out the day with a 2,325 in the smallbore. Redshirt junior Soren Butler finished behind Sherry to score a 583. Butler's best round came in the kneeling and prone positions, as he recorded a 195 in both positions Maddalena joined Sherry as the only two Alaska shooters to be featured in the top four in both events with her score of 582.
"Sagen did really well for her first time back. She didn't really get a chance to practice in the smallbore during the break because she was in Sweden shooting. Yesterday was really the first time she touched her smallbore gun in sometime, and it's really promising that she posted the score she did today after not being able to practice in the event for a while."
Alaska will wait to find out how their score holds in the Palmyra Invitational, as four-week Invitational continues over the course of January.
The Nanooks will end their two-meet road trip on Tuesday, as they face off with defending NCAA Champion, and No. 1-ranked, West Virginia in Morgantown.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks rifle team, follow @NanooksRifle on Twitter or like Alaska Nanooks Rifle on Facebook.
