COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Alaksa Nanooks rifle team is in Columbus, Ohio at The Ohio State University for the 2021 NCAA Rifle Championships. This is the 34th NCAA Championships for Alaska.
Last Time Out
The Alaska Nanooks are back in action for the first time after hosting their 2021 NCAA Qualifier. They hosted UTEP on Feb. 20 and posted their third consecutive 4700, posting a 4710, defeating the Miners 4710-4581. In the final stats,
Daniel Enger checked-in with a 1182,
Liam Eberhart shot a 1176.
Rylan Kissell and
Kellen McAferty added their own 1176 scores.
Last NCAA Appearance
The last time the Nanooks officially participated in the NCAA Rifle Championships was the 2018-19 season. West Virginia was the host school in 18-19. Alaska finished eighth overall at the Championships, shooting a 2287 in smallbore and 2353 in air rifle for an aggregate score of 4640.
Meet the Team
The Nanooks brought a group of six to NCAA's this year;
Jessica Boyce,
Liam Eberhart,
Daniel Enger,
Rylan Kissell,
Kellen McAferty and
Andrew Pham.
Boyce on the season shot a season-high aggregate of 1178 on Nov. 14, 2020 at Memphis. In air she shot a season-high 594 on Nov. 17, 2020 and posted a season-high smallbore score of 586 on Nov. 14, 2020. Eberhart progressively got better as the season continued, posting a season and career-high on Jan. 24, 2021, shooting a 1181 against Air Force. In smallbore, Eberhart posted a season-high 587 on Jan. 24 and a season-high 595 air rifle score on Nov. 15, 2020 at Memphis.
Enger, a transfer from Navy, shot a season-high 1182 on two separate occasions, once on Jan. 24, 2021 and again on Feb. 20, 2021. He posted an air rifle high of 596 and a smallbore high of 589 twice. Freshman
Rylan Kissell impressed in his first season with Alaska, posting an aggregate-high of 1185 on Jan. 24, 2021. His career-high in smallbore is currently a 588 while his high in air is 598, a score he shot on Jan. 23, 2021.
The final two Nanooks are
Kellen McAferty and
Andrew Pham. McAferty checked-in with a season-high 1179 two separate times. He shot those in back-to-back matches on Nov. 15 and Nov. 17, 2020. His smallbore-high on the season is 589. He shot that score on Nov. 15, 2020 and his air rifle high was a 592 on Nov. 17, 2020 vs. Ole Miss. Pham, the alternate for the Nanooks, put up a season-high aggregate of 1161 on Jan. 24, 2021. His air rifle high was a 587 and his smallbore high came in at 578.
Coaches Quotes
We made it to Columbus and the team is in good spirits and excited to start shooting. We are looking forward to the practice day tomorrow – checking out the venue and getting some shots down range.
Heading into the weekend the team is looking extremely well prepared and they are excited to perform. They have been diligent in their preparations both physically and mentally and they are going to see the benefit of that over the next few days. It should be a great test and a very interesting match.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks rifle team, follow @NanooksRifle on Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks Rifle team page on Facebook.
