COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Top-ranked Alaska-Fairbanks opened up its first collegiate rifle match of 2014 on a winning note, downing seventh-ranked Air Force 4,680-4,624 on Thursday afternoon at the Olympic Training Center.
The Nanooks improved to 7-0 in dual matches this season after registering scores of 2,359 in air rifle and 2,321 in smallbore. The Falcons fell to 3-2 on the season after putting together a 2,325 in air gun and 2,299 in smallbore.
"This is actually the third or fourth day straight that they are shooting and we still have three more days to go," head coach Dan Jordan said. "This match was really one to get back into the collegiate season but it's also a good one because we're really working on endurance."
The squad was led by junior Mats Eriksson, who tied for match-highs with a 592 in air rifle and a 582 in smallbore. Junior Ryan Anderson also had a 592 in air gun while sophomore Tim Sherry tied Eriksson with a 582 in smallbore.
"Ryan is coming off a bunch of good matches and he's mentally exhausted," Jordan said. "There's been a lot of big matches and a lot of good training [for Anderson] and he's also studying to take the MCAT's, so he was all about energy management today."
Other air rifle scores included a 589 by sophomore Lorelie Stanfield, a 586 by senior Mike Liuzza and a 585 by Sherry.
On the smallbore side, other scores by the Nanooks included a 580 by Anderson, 577 by Liuzza and 574 by Stanfield. During the 20 shots of prone in smallbore, Liuzza, Sherry and Stanfield all led the match with a perfect 200.
For the Falcons, Meredith Carpentier fired a 592 in air rifle to match Eriksson and Anderson for the match-best score while David Higgins led AFA with a 576 in smallbore.
"When we come home, for those on the road trip, they will take it easy," Jordan said. "They'll take a couple days at home to get back in the groove but to also come back and recover from this long week. It's going to be light training and get ready to shoot hard in those matches [at home]."
