Alaska Fairbanks, looking to capture its fifth straight NCAA Rifle Championship, took a large step toward achieving that goal on Friday during the individual competition held at the U.S. Military Academy's Tronsrue Marksmanship Center.
Freshman Jamie Beyerle was crowned the champion in air rifle and senior Matt Emmons broke his own NCAA record, defending his smallbore title for the third straight year, in becoming the first shooter to accomplish that feat.
Emmons, a New Jersey native who grew up an hour's drive from West Point, made most of his homecoming before family and friends with a pair of NCAA records. He broke his own NCAA smallbore mark by one point in firing an 1191 out of a possible score of 1200. That mark included 89 center shots or bulls, besting his closest competitor by eight points.
By capturing the smallbore title for the third straight year, Emmons became the first shooter in NCAA history to accomplish that feat in either discipline.
Beyerle came into the championship match among the nation's leaders, sporting a top score of 396. She fired a 395 out of a possible 400, hitting 32 center shots, in edging teammate Per Sandberg for medalist honors by a single point in both scoring and bulls. Beyerle is the fourth Nanook to be crowned an air rifle champion in five years and the first freshman in school history to win a national title. She also took third in smallbore with an 1182, just one point off runner-up honors. Beyerle had the second-highest number of center shots in firing 83.
Kentucky's Bradley Wheeldon was runner-up to Emmons in smallbore with an 1183, which included 78 bulls, while grabbing the bronze in air rifle with a 393, just two points off the winning mark.
The two-day championships conclude Saturday at West Point in the battle for the team title. Alaska Fairbanks, which finished in the top three in both events in the individual competition, will compete in the first air rifle relay with Xavier, Kentucky and Murray State at 10 a.m. That group will also be in the second smallbore relay at 12:30 p.m.
