COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Alaska Nanooks rifle team was well represented at the USA Shooting National Championships June 16-26 in Colorado Springs. Gavin Barnick, Rylan Kissell and Kellen McAferty represented the current Nanook rifle team while 2016-alum, Tim Sherry and 2018-alum, Sagen Maddalena earned medals of their own in the open men's and women's open finals. 

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Smallbore
Barnick and Kissell both competed in the Open category alongside the U21 category while McAferty competed in the Open. McAferty led the trio in scoring on day one, posting a 587 while Kissell shot a 586 and Barnick posted a 582. On day two it was Kissell leading the way, following up his day one performance with a score of 590. Barnick shot another 582 and McAferty fired off a 580. On the third day it was Barnick's turn to lead the trio. He shot a 587 while Kissell and McAferty both shot a 585. 

Barnick finished 11th in the Open and qualified for the Junior Final, finishing in second-place. He earned a bronze medal in the Junior Final. Kissell used his three-day total to qualify for both the Open Final and the Junior Final. He qualified for the Open Final in sixth-place and was the top junior finisher for the Junior Final. He finished the Open Final in eighth-place but earned a Junior Final gold medal winning over Braden Peiser. McAferty entered the Open Final in eighth and battled his way to a seventh-place finish. Head coach Will Anti was proud of his group's efforts in the smallbore discipline, "Smallbore was a great effort from the group. I know that Kellen had very limited ability to train smallbore coming into the match and Gavin is continuing to recover from a knee surgery. This was Gavin's first match back and really only his second week or so getting into the kneeling position post-surgery. They shot extremely well considering this and really had to rely a bit on the work they did during the season to carry them through. I think knowing that the training may have been limited in the lead up, it forced them to be even more pragmatic and mature in the match to still yield good results. Gavin shot three good matches, and finally on Day 3 it felt like the close ones went his way. Rylan certainly came into the match with more preparation and on Day 2 he shot brilliantly - especially in slings. He tied for the highest slings shot all week. After a tough open final he rebounded really well to win the Junior Final. We were thrilled to put two in the open and Junior Final."

Air Rifle
The same three 'Nooks competed on both days of air rifle. Rylan Kissell led the way both days posting a day one score of 627.5 before besting that on day two with a score of 628.6. Gavin Barnick followed in second between the three with a day one score of 621.6. McAferty after day one had a 620.9 under his belt before posting a big 627.0 on day two. Barnick shot a 623.7 on day two and finished ninth in the Open category and qualified for the Junior Final in fourth. McAferty used his big second day to qualify for the Open Final in sixth-place. Kissell entered the Open Final in second-place overall and as the top junior. 

Kissell posted a second gold-medal performance in the Open Final, taking the crown over Lucas Kozeniesky, a two-time Olympian and the 2020 silver medalist. Anti had this to say about the air rifle performance by all three, "The Air Rifle was really strong across the board. Kellen had a great first half the first day and it got away from him a bit on the back half but he was incredibly determined on day two and shot a PR. We're seeing Kellen put together World Class Air more and more and in big matches which is really encouraging. Gavin had a much improved second day - he struggled a lot with the hold but worked through it well to scrap together a really respectable day. Kissell had two solid days. He's been working very diligently over the summer to see these types of results on a stage like this, so I think he was quite satisfied. Once again, two in the open and two in the junior final. It's a real testament for Kellen to make both Open finals in a really strong field. This is the first time he's done that - it's just further evidence that he become dominant in both disciplines and is no longer just a 'smallbore specialist.' Gavin shot well in the Junior final and claimed a bronze. In an exciting Open Final Rylan was victorious over two time Olympian and 2020 Silver Medalist Lucas Kozeniesky. I was really proud to see him shoot well in the final - I think in the last year he has doubted his finals a bit and just needed one really good one to show him that he knows what he's doing. I think he got that and more out of this one."

Past 'Nooks
Maddalena, a soldier in the Army's Marksmanship Unit, earned the top spot after the fist three days in the open category. On day one she shot a 590 followed by a 592 on day two. She finished off the third day with a 594, finishing with a total of 1776 and a spot in the gold-medal round against Katie Zaun. The former 'Nook grabbed her first gold medal of the National Championships, winning the Women's Smallbore Final over Zaun. Her second came in the Women's Air Rifle Final over Kristen Hemphill. After day scores of 635.7 and 634.0, Maddalena entered the final with the highest two-day total before winning gold.

Sherry, the 2014 NCAA National Champion in smallbore, earned a bronze medal in the Men's Smallbore Final. He shot a day one 592 and day two 589 before taking third behind Peter Fiori (silver) and Lucas Kozeniesky (gold).

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