FAIRBANKS – The Nanooks rifle team kept their winning-streak going, extending it to eight-straight with a 4725-4719 over the #4-ranked Ole Miss Rebels.
"We had a solid match today against a really strong team in Ole Miss. I'm sure the entire team was pleased to pull out a narrow victory." said head coach
Will Anti, "We had a close match with Ole Miss last season as well."
Lea Horvath of Ole Miss led the way in the aggregate, shooting an 1190.
Rylan Kissell was the overall winner for the Nanooks, taking second individually with an aggregate of 1186. Sara Karasova followed in second with an 1185 and
Gavin Barnick rounded out the top-five finishers for Alaska with an aggregate of 1180. In the Individual smallbore standings, Karasova fired-off the top score of 592. Kissell took third with a 591.
Daniel Enger and
Gavin Barnick were the final Nanooks in the top-five as Enger took fourth with a score of 588 and Barnick took fifth with a score of 586.
Alaska outshot Ole Miss in the smallbore discipline, 2355-2338.
In air, Kissell was the top-dog for the Nanooks. After Ole Miss fired off a 599 and 598 for the top two positions, Kissell was next, shooting a 597. Barnick followed close behind, shooting a 594. Karasova fired off a 593 and Enger was the fourth-highest for Alaska with a 586.
"Overall, smallbore was well shot and air left room for improvement. The team is very positive about the air gun outlook though, and I know they have lofty aspirations toward air. We've seen a lot of good air gun and now we will just begin the process of consistently transitioning it to match day. This last week and a half have been a really tumultuous week with hectic travel and weather and other difficult factors. We have athletes that still haven't made it back to Fairbanks even today, so, certainly the team faced a lot of adversity this week. Their resilience and motivation are incredible and that's really what propelled them through this week. While they have had lots of great performances this season, this one ranks very high for me knowing what they have overcome this week. They should derive a lot of confidence from this performance." Finished Anti.
The Nanooks and Rebels shoot at E.F. Horton Range tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. on the campus of UAF in the Patty Center.
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.
