COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Alaska Nanooks rifle team won the PRC smallbore championship. Tomorrow, Sunday, Feb. 6, they will battle for the air rifle championship and overall PRC Championship. 
 
At the end of day one, the Nanooks find themselves 18 points ahead of TCU, who is participating virtually due to inclement weather forcing them to not travel to Colorado Springs. 
 
Smallbore Standings – Day One
Alaska – 2363
TCU – 2345
Ohio State – 2326
Air Force – 2318
Nebraska – 2315
UTEP – 2240
 
In the individual standings, the Nanooks had the top three and five of the top six. Kellen McAferty shot a 593 for the top-spot and was followed by Gavin Barnick, who shot a 592. Rylan Kissell shot a 590, coming in third. Sara Karasova rounded out the top-five with a 588 and fifth-place finish. Daniel Enger took sixth with a 586. 
 
Five Nanooks made the finals and McAferty ended up with the individual PRC championship, winning the finals. Kissell ended with a third-place finish, Karasova took fourth and Barnick took seventh. Head coach Will Anti was pleased to see his overall team performance, as well as the individual performances, "I was really proud of the team's performance today. This is certainly a different format than a traditional college match and they adapted really well and basically thrived in the environment. They, once again, picked up some easy points in prone and I think realized there were points on the table in standing for some and kneeling for others. The mindset and determination today were the most impressive and encouraging thing for me - it was clear before the day began, they were hungry to perform. Kellen has had a lengthy and extremely successful career with the 'Nooks so shooting personal-bests at this stage is quite the accomplishment. He shot a great final to back it up. Congrats to him on being the individual conference champion and leading the group as they won the team portion as well. 
 
Gavin had another great performance - I'm continuously impressed by his growth and maturity match-to-match. Today was one of his most composed matches yet. Sara and Rylan were both strong across the board. I think they felt they left points out there but it was strong and if anything, it has them keyed up for some redemption in air. Daniel certainly hit a couple major road bumps today, but I think his ability to quickly rebound and adjust was displayed. Tomorrow will be a great test for us. I'm excited for the team to get the experience of sleeping on a lead."
 
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.