ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Alaska Nanooks rifle team cemented themselves in the history books with two separate NCAA records on Sunday, Nov. 14. Against the U.S. Naval Academy, Alaska outshot the Midshipmen, 4749-4694. Alongside the NCAA aggregate record, the Nanooks posted the NCAA record for smallbore with a 2371.

"Today was a really exceptional day." Stated head coach Will Anti, "It was special to watch the group perform at that level. We planned for this to be a peak match and they certainly had a peak moment."

Peak performance, indeed, as four Nanooks shooters posted aggregates above a 1185. Rylan Kissell led the way in the individual scoring as the freshman posted a score of 1190. Sara Karasova, a fellow freshman, took second individually, posting a 1186. Kellen McAferty took third with a 1186 aggregate of his own. Finally, rounding out the Nanooks scoring in the top-five, was freshman Gavin Barnick, who posted a score of 1185.

In smallbore, the Nanooks shot a 2371 discipline-score, a new NCAA record. Coach Anti raved about the 'Nooks performance in smallbore, "In smallbore, they were brilliant. Sara led the group with stellar slings and she backed I up with another great standing performance. Gavin broke through the 590 barrier, really he smashed through it, posting a 593, cleaning his last 15 in standing. That's a different breed of shooting, especially given they're both freshmen." Karasova posted a 596, tying the program-record in smallbore. Barnick posted a 593 for a second-place finish in the discipline and Kissell was just behind, posting a 592. Kellen McAferty and Daniel Enger rounded-out the top-five finishes for Alaska with scores of 590 and 586, respectively.

In air, freshman Rylan Kissell led the way, posting a 598. Navy's Michael Zanti took second with a 597. McAferty was the only other Alaska shooter in the top-five, finishing third with a 596. Barnick and Enger were the last counting scorers for the Nanooks as Barnick took sixth-place with a score of 592 and Enger took seventh with a score of 592.

Anti was all-around proud of what he saw in air, "In air, Kellen [McAferty] and Rylan [Kissell] led the group with strong performances. Kellen is continuing to get more comfortable putting up world-class scores, and weekly, Rylan seems to be finding one more point here and there. That's impressive given the level he's at. It was great to see Navy perform well in air too. I think it was a full-circle moment for Daniel [Enger], returning to Navy and performing extremely well both days."

This match ends the fall-semester portion of the Alaska Nanooks rifle schedule. They return to action on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 14-15 as Ole Miss comes to Fairbanks.

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