FAIRBANKS, Alaska – A historic weekend for the Alaska Nanooks rifle team led to a sweep of the Air Force Academy on Jan. 23 and 24. After picking up a 4700-4687 victory a day ago, the 'Nooks came out and got the best of the Falcons again. This time, they picked up a big 4720-4683 victory, moving to 5-3, 2-2 PRC on the season.
Today's score of 4720 marks the best team score posted by Alaska since Jan. 19, 2018 when the Nanooks knocked-off Ole Miss, 4725-4687. It also marks the first time the Nanooks grabbed back-to-back, 4700-point wins since they shot a 4709 on Feb. 18, 2016 versus Nevada and UTEP followed by a 4700-point victory at their NCAA Qualifier versus the same two schools.
Rylan Kissell,
Daniel Enger and
Liam Eberhart all cracked the 1180-mark on Sunday, Jan. 24, collecting career-highs for all three. Kissell took first place in the aggregate scoring, firing off a 1185. Enger finished in second place, posting a career-high 1182 aggregate score. Eberhart was the last to crack 1180, posting a 1181 score for his new career-high and picking up an individual placement of third.
Jessica Boyce placed sixth with a score of 1168.
Kellen McAferty added an eighth place finish and 1163 score while
Andrew Pham rounded-out the top-10 with a 1161 score on the day.
Alaska collected the top-three spots in the smallbore discipline as Enger, Kissell and Eberhart led the way once again. Enger picked up the top spot with a 589, Kissell collected second with a 588 and Eberhart grabbed third with a score of 587. McAferty was the final squad member for the Nanooks, shooting a 583 and finishing the day in fifth place for smallbore.
Kissell led the way in air rifle for the second straight day. After shooting a career-high 598 a day ago, he came back and grabbed a first place finish with a 597. Eberhart was the next top-Nanook shooter in fourth place, shooting a season-high 594 and Enger followed in fifth place with a 593.
Coaches Quotes
Today was a phenomenal day across the board. The team has really been putting in the work and it showed today. They shot their own style and really freed themselves up to perform.
There were a tremendous amount of good performances across the board in both guns. We had some great leadership from our more experienced shooters like Liam and we had some great performances from our younger crowd like Rylan. Daniel has found a lot of consistency in both guns and that been great to watch his work in practice translate to match day.
The Nanooks prepare for the Patriot Rifle Conference Championships in Columbus, Ohio in two weeks.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks rifle team, follow @NanooksRifle on Twitter or Instagram, or like the Alaska Nanooks Rifle team page on Facebook.
