COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - the Alaska Nanooks rifle team grabbed another victory at the Air Force Academy on Sunday, Jan. 22. They outshot the Falcons 4738-4714 to end the regular-season 10-0, 6-0 PRC.
Rylan Kissell led the way individually, posting an 1191 aggregate score to finish first. Peter Fiori followed in second with an aggregate of 1184. Kellen McAferty rounded out the top-three with an 1183. Sára Karasová was the fourth Nanook in the top-10, taking seventh-place with an 1177 and Rachael Charles finished ninth with an 1172.
"Today was a better match especially in airgun. I was really happy of the bounce back in airgun after just a mediocre smallbore overall." Said head coach Will Anti, "Certainly there were some highlights in smallbore. Rylan lead the group with a solid effort. He rebounded after a rough standing yesterday. He showed a lot of patience in the match and squeezed everything he could in kneeling both days. Peter also had another solid smallbore match."
Kissell shot the high score in the smallbore discipline, leading the 'Nooks to a 2350-2338 advantage. Kissell's 592 was the top-score while Fiori followed with the only other 590+ on the day with a 591. McAferty followed in third with a 586. Karasová took eighth-place with a 581, Charles fired a 576 for 11th and Tobias Bernhoft-Osa took 13th with a 572.
"In air we had a number of great performances." added Anti, "Rylan led with a 599 and shot a smart match with some good breaks. Kellen put a solid match together, it was very authentic to his style and sort of return to that form. I was really proud of Rachael and Sára today in particular. Both had tough days in smallbore and they came back really strong. It's not easy to set aside a bad match in 30 minutes and come back swinging. They both did that and it made a big difference in the end result."
Kissell, once again, led the way in air rifle posting a 599. Kellen McAferty followed with a 597. Karasová and Charles both posted a 596, finishing fifth and sixth. Peter Fiori followed in eighth with a 593 adn Bernhoft-Osa finished with a 581.
"I think we came away from these matches with a clear to do list. That's really ideal. Given the amount of time left in the season prior to the National Championship I think we have an appropriate amount of work to reasonably accomplish." finished Anti.
The Nanooks are back in action on Feb. 4-5 at home as they prepare to host the Patriot Rifle Conference Championships.
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.
