CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Alaska Nanooks rifle team will travel to Charleston, S.C. and Morgantown, W.V. for a full week of shooting. They'll first shoot at The Citadel on Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 2-3 before traveling north for The Fall Classic with West Virginia (host), Kentucky and TCU.

Wednesday, Nov. 2
The Citadel | Live Stats | 5:00 a.m. AKT
Charleston, S.C. | Inouye Marksmanship Center

Thursday, Nov. 3
The Citadel | Live Stats | 5:00 a.m. AKT
Charleston, S.C. | Inouye Marksmanship Center

Saturday, Nov. 5
The Fall Classic (WVU/UK/TCU) | Live Stats | 5:00 a.m. AKT
Morgantown, W.V. | WVU Rifle Range

Sunday, Nov. 6
The Fall Classic (WVU/UK/TCU) | Live Stats | 5:00 p.m. AKT
Morgantown, W.V. | WVU Rifle Range

Last Time Out
The Nanooks opened up their 2022-23 season with a pair of wins against #8-ranked Ohio State. In their season-opener on Friday, Oct. 7, the Nanooks fired a 4751, tying their team-record and beating OSU 4751-4694. Newcomer, Peter Fiori, led the way for the 'Nooks as he shot a new PR with an aggregate of 1191. Gavin Barnick and Rylan Kissell followed with a pair of 1186 aggregates. Kellen McAferty posted an 1185 and Sára Karasová added a 1184. Alaska posted a 2366 in smallbore and 2385 in air.

On day two, the Nanooks continued their winning ways, knocking off the Buckeyes 4739-4696. This time it was Karasová leading the 'Nooks with an aggregate of 1188. Fiori followed in second with an 1185, McAferty posted an 1183, Barnick posted an 1182 and Marina Gonzalez Mazo shot a career-best 1180. 

#NookNotes

• In the latest CRCA Rankings (10/24/2022), the Nanooks came in ranked #1 in the country. TCU followed behind in the #2 spot and Ole Miss rounded out the top-three. 
• Peter Fiori is fourth in the NCAA for aggregate average; the graduate-transfer is averaging an 1188 through his first two matches in the blue and gold. He is averaging a 594 in both smallbore and air rifle.  
• Barnick, Karasová, Kissell and McAferty join Fiori in the top-10 for aggregate averages as Karasová has an average of 1186, Kissell an 1186 (one match this season) and Barnick has an 1184. Kellen McAferty is currently tied with Barnick in 10th with an average of 1184. 
• Fiori's 1191 is tied for the sixth best aggregate score this season. He is one of seven in the NCAA to shoot over 1190. His 596 currently stands as the best smallbore score of the season.
• After The Citadel, the Nanooks will take part in the first-ever Fall Classic, hosted by West Virginia. 
• The Fall Classic will feature #5-ranked West Virginia, #10-ranked Kentucky and #2-ranked TCU.
• Between the four teams, there are a combined 36 national championships. West Virginia has won 19 national titles, the Nanooks have won 10, Kentucky has won four and TCU has won three.

Meet the Opponents

The Citadel
The Citadel enters this week's two-day matchup with a 2-1 record. They earned their first win of the season on Oct. 8 against Wofford. They took the win 4604-4377. They then fell to the University of Nebraska on Oct. 15, 4624-4703 before beating Alabama at Birmingham on Oct. 22 4600-4576. The women's team shot against Jacksonville State on Oct. 30 and fell 4394-4659.

The Citadel is averaging 4609.33 points per match and their women's team is averaging 4389.66 points per match. They are led Charlotte Welsh and Cameron Bates who have posted their top-two scores of the season. Welsh shot a 1174 on Oct. 22 against UAB with a 588 in smallbore and 586 in air. Bates shot an 1161 on Oct. 15 against Nebraska, posting a 576 in smallbore and 585 in air. 

West Virginia
West Virginia comes into the Fall Classic 6-0 and 2-0 in GARC play. They started the season with #14-ranked Memphis on Saturday, Oct. 1 and won 4712-4645. They followed that up with a win over #5-ranked Ole Miss on Oct. 8, 4723-4696. They then faced #2 Air Force and #19 UTEP in a matchup and beat Air Force 4714-4682 and beat UTEP 4714-4564. They beat the same two teams the following day 4715-4568 (UTEP) and 4715-4690 (Air Force). 

Mary Tucker transferred in to WVU this past season and has led the way for the Mountaineers ever since. She posted their top-two scores of the season. Her 1193 on Oct. 8 stands as their top-score of 2022-23. She shot a 594 in smallbore and 599 in air that day. She also holds the second-best score of 1184, shot in their season-opener. Verena Zaisberger shot the third-best score for WVU with an 1183 (589-594) on Oct. 8.

Kentucky
The Wildcats enter The Fall Classic with a 3-0 record. They opened their season with a 4705-4681 win over Akron on the road. They followed that up with a 4693-4617 win over North Carolina State at home before knocking-off Navy and North Georgia on Oct. 29 4742-4690-4554. 

Kentucky is led by Will Shaner and Sofia Ceccarello. Shaner shot a season-high 1191 on Oct. 29 with a 594 in smallbore and 597 in air while Ceccarello added an 1190 on that same day. She shot a 592 in smallbore while adding a 598 in air. Richard Clark and Mitchell Nelson followed closely behind that same day with scores of 1186 and 1184, respectively. The Wildcats are the reigning national champions and currently sit at #10 in the CRCA Top-20 Rankings. 

TCU
The Horned Frogs come are #2 in the most recent (Oct. 24) CRCA Top-20 Rankings. They are coming into this week with four-straight first-place finishes. They opened their season with a win at Navy/VMI in Annapolis, Md., shooting a new national record 4758. They then shot against Air Force on Oct. 2 and won 4753-4723. They then beat Memphis on Oct. 8 while firing a 4722. In their most recent outing, they took first over Ohio State and Nebraska in Columbus, Ohio, shooting a 4737.

TCU is led by Julie Johannessen, Abby Gordon and Stephanie Grundsøe. They've all posted scores over 1190 this season with Johannessen shooting their season-high 1194 on Sept. 24 in their record-setting match at Navy. Gordon has posted two 1192's this season and Grundsøe has posted scores of 1191 and 1190.

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