Full Results (PDF)

MORGANTOWN, W.V. - The Alaska Nanooks rifle team finished third-place in the four-team Fall Classic, hosted by West Virginia this weekend. TCU took first-place, tallying an aggregate of 4737, West Virginia took second with a time of 4733, Alaska took third with a 4725 and Kentucky finished fourth with an aggregate score of 4705.

Head coach Will Anti saw a lot of positives despite a tougher weekend for the 'Nooks, "This was a tougher match for us. I'm grateful we had this opportunity and that things really didn't go fully our way. There's not a lot of learning done when it's effortless and to be honest it's been sort of effortless in the results so far this season. We needed this to energize us a bit and perhaps challenge some of our approaches to these styles of matches. I think this is the most excited we've been to get back to training."

After two days of shooting, the Nanooks ended with three athletes in the top-10 aggregate scores. Sára Karasová was the top-shooter for the 'Nooks, taking fourth-place with an aggregate score of 1186. Rylan Kissell followed in fifth-place with the same score and Gavin Barnick took ninth in aggregate, shooting an 1179. Stephanie Gundsøe of TCU took first in the individual placement, shooting an aggregate of 1190. On day one of the Fall Classic, the four teams participated in the smallbore discipline. TCU took a six-point lead after smallbore as the Horned Frogs fired a 2357 in the smallbore discipline. Alaska and West Virginia were in second-place as the two sides both fired a 2351 and Kentucky shot a 2333, rounding out the day one field. Sára Karasová led the field, shooting a 592 in smallbore. Rylan Kissell followed in seventh-place, shooting a 588. Peter Fiori and Gavin Barnickrounded out the scoring for the 'Nooks in smallbore as Fiori shot a 586 and finished 12th-place and Barnick took 13th with a 585. 

Anti saw some brilliance in Karasová and enjoyed Kissell's resilience on day one, "Certainly there were still some highlights and great work this weekend. Karasová shot a brilliant smallbore on a tough range shoulder to shoulder with all the best teams and athletes from around the country. Kissell also had a great comeback kid moment in smallbore again."

On day two, West Virginia fired off the top air rifle score with a 2382. TCU took second with a 2380, Alaska shot a 2374 and Kentucky shot a 2372. In the individual air rifle standings, Stephanie Grundsøe led with a 599. Tal Engler of WVU followed in second with a 598 and Rylan Kissell took third with a 598. Sára Karasová was the next Nanook in the top-10, finishing seventh after shooting a 594. Gavin Barnick followed closely behind in ninth-place with a score of 594. Marina Gonzalez Mazo was the final scorer for the Nanooks as she posted a career-high 594 in air rifle. She took 11th in the individual standings. Anti was proud of the team's air rifle performance, especially Mazo Gonzalez's career-day, "In air, Kissell had a very solid 598 with what I would describe as a less than stellar hold, so he really had to work with it. I felt Sára and Gavin equally shot some of their best air matches of the season from a process and maturity perspective. Marina was a huge highlight, she shot a PR in air and has been working so hard to have this type of match. She had a gun malfunction in Citadel but she really used that as fuel and I'm very proud of her resilience."

This was the Nanooks third weekend of shooting and they come back to Fairbanks to close out the first half of their 2022-23 season with Nebraska. The Cornhuskers come to town on Saturday, Nov. 12 and Sunday, Nov. 13 to shoot at TVSA and the E.F. Horton Rifle Range. 

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks rifle team, follow @NanooksRifle on Instagram or Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks Rifle team page on Facebook.