Aggregate Results (PDF)
Air Rifle Results (PDF)
Individual Results (PDF)

AKRON, Ohio - For the 11th-time in program history and first time since 2008, your Alaska Nanooks rifle team has won the NCAA Rifle Championships. With a 2380 in air rifle, a 12-point lead on second-place TCU and an aggregate score of 4729, the 'Nooks walked away with the National Championship.
 

"There are almost no words to describe my overwhelming pride for this group." Said third-year head coach Will Anti, "It's been tireless work, stress, management, and joy to get to this moment. We've made it to the mountain top and are just taking in the view now. I think it's still sinking in for almost all of us." With their 2349 in smallbore, a day ago, and their 2380 in air rifle this morning, the Nanooks swept the national championships, claiming both top-spots in each gun and claiming the all-important team overall championship. Rachael Charles and Rylan Kissell led the way for the Nanooks on day two of Championships. Kissell posted a perfect-score 600 with 58x and Charles followed behind with a 598 49x. Both of those scores qualified the athletes for the air rifle individual finals. Anti added how impressed he was with Kissell's ability to know the situation and take care of business alongside Charles' impressive showing as a freshman on the big stage, "The match today was tough. We had some extreme highs with Rylan and Rachael. To shoot a 600 on that stage, there is no way to put into words how impressive that is. He understood the assignment, he managed the match perfectly, he shot with passion and joy, and in doing so deserved to be the champion. Rachael was very impressive as well. A freshman coming off of a tough first day basically threw the team on her back and said, 'I got you.' That's a special person."

Kellen McAferty, a fifth-year for the Nanooks, ended his career on top with a counting 592 on day two of the NCAA Rifle Championships to help Alaska pull through. McAferty has been with the Nanooks since 2018-19 and after the Nanooks finished the 2019-20 season in 15th, and he qualified as their lone-individual qualifier for the 2020 NCAA Championships, he has been a key member of returning the 'Nooks to the top. Gavin Barnick was the final counting score for Alaska as the sophomore hung a 590 45x on the scoresheet. "It wasn't the match Gavin or Kellen wanted, but they did their job. They didn't get sloppy, they didn't lose points to stupidity. It's just a hard match and they hung tough." 

Finally, Peter Fiori fired a 587 41x to round out the Nanooks scorecard.

Anti made sure to touch on the fact that everyone made an impact and it was a team effort, "It was truly a team effort. Every person made an impact that resulted in a perfect sweep. I hope in the days to follow I can sum up the season in a more eloquent way but for now I can say simply that today a lot of preparation met with a little luck and the 'Nooks ruled more than the north - they ruled the nation."

Kissell and Charles took their impressive shooting into the 2023 NCAA Air Rifle Individual Finals where they put on a show and grabbed the gold and bronze medals. Charles posted a finals score of 259.8 and took third, missing out on the finals by 1.1 points to teammate Rylan Kissell who shot a 260.9. Kissell and West Virginia's Mary Tucker met in the finals and Kissell caught fire, running out to the gold medal award with a 17-9 medal match final score. He became the first individual champion for the Nanooks since 2014 when Tim Sherry won the individual smallbore title. 
 

With the team title, the Nanooks ended a 15-year drought and have now won 11 national championships (1994, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2023), the second-most in NCAA Rifle history. 

Smallbore Results

1. Alaska - 2349
2. Ole Miss - 2346
3. West Virginia - 2343
4. Nebraska - 2340
5. Kentucky - 2340
6. TCU - 2338
7. Air Force - 2322
8. Murray State - 2322

Air Rifle Results

1. Alaska - 2380
2. TCU - 2379
3. Air Force - 2375
4. Kentucky - 2373
5. Ole Miss - 2367
6. Nebraska - 2366
7. Murray State - 2366
8. West Virginia - 2365

Overall Results

1. Alaska - 4729
2. TCU - 4717
3. Kentucky - 4713
4. Ole Miss - 4713
5. West Virginia - 4708
6. Nebraska - 4706
7. Air Force - 4697
8. Murray State - 4688

Day One Recap

Alongside the team championship and the air rifle individual title, Rylan Kissell leaves the NCAA Championships with the Most Outstanding Performer honor after posting an individual high aggregate score of 1190, besting Tucker from WVU, who took second. Charles was the only other Nanook in the top-10 for individual finishes, finishing her first NCAA appearance with an aggregate score of 1181. Gavin Barnick finished the weekend with an aggregate of 1178, Fiori fired an 1175 and McAferty shot an 1174.

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.