Post date: Mar 8, 2015 2:38:49 PM
Jaryd Cline Jcline@newsminer.com
FAIRBANKS—The NCAA Rifle Championships are back at the University of Alaska for the first time since 2007, this time with a new and exciting twist.
From noon to 8 p.m. Friday at the Patty Center, the first ever NCAA Rifle Championship Fanfest will be taking place during the first day of competition. Friday’s smallbore individual and team competitions will take place in the E.F. Horton Rifle Range between 7:15 a.m. and 8 p.m., and Saturday’s air rifle individual and team competitions will go from 7:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Patty Center.
At Fanfest, informative displays will be set up throughout the gym giving fans in attendance the chance to learn about the sport. And, after they’ve finished shooting, some of the student-athletes also will be in attendance, manning the displays and helping fans.
“All these questions that (fans) have about smallbore and air rifle, there’s going to be displays up for student athletes and people who know the sport to explain,” Alaska sports information director Drew Desrosiers said. (There’s) “a little more fan interactive stuff, it’s kind of a fun event for people to learn more about the sport.”
2012 Olympic gold medalist (women’s 50 meter rifle three positions) and former Alaska Nanooks sharpshooter Jamie Corkish also will be in attendance to meet and greet fans, sign autographs and take photographs with her gold medal.
Admission to Fanfest is included with a championship ticket, which can be found and purchased at www.ticketmaster.com.
Tickets for adults 18 years or older are $13.75 and military and youth tickets are $11.25.
The first 750 fans to show up to the Fanfest will receive a limited edition commemorative pin, engraved with the NCAA Rifle Championship logo.
The Last time the Nanooks hosted the NCAA Rifle Championships in 2007, more than 1,000 fans were in attendance, the largest crowd ever for the national event.
In a 2007 News-Miner rifle story written by Matias Saari, according to Paul Klimitas of the NCAA Rifle Committee, only 50-200 people typically attend the NCAA Rifle Championships.
This year, the Nanooks again expect to break the attendance record they set in 2007.
“They’re expecting 1,000 plus again,” Nanooks assistant rifle coach Ryan Baum said.
However, don’t expect 1,000 people crammed into the E.F. Horton Shooting Range during Friday’s competition.
The range holds around 70-100 people, according to Desrosiers, and an extra row of seating will be added for Friday’s shooting.
Although the range holds upwards of 100 people, Desrosiers doesn’t see the seating as an issue.
Each of the five individuals of a specific team will shoot at the same time during the team competition, so fans of a respective team will be able to arrive and leave promptly to see their respective team shoot.
“If people want to come down (to the range) they will be coming in and out,” Desrosiers said. “It’s not as big of an event (on Friday).”
However, if the range does fill up with people, standing room is available in the back.
As for fan etiquette, fans are expected to keep the noise to a minimum.
“Most people don’t talk while the competition is happening, part of that is because of focus,” Desrosiers said.
On Saturday in the Patty Center, the gym is expected to be nearly full.
“There will be about a thousand people in the gym,” Desrosiers said.
As for etiquette, Desrosiers expects there to be more excitement among the fans.
“On Saturday, you can’t keep a thousand people quiet,” he said. “There’s going to be more noise, it’s going to be more intense because they’re coming down to the second day of competition as the shots are getting tallied up and everything.”
The individual finals are expected to finish around 4 p.m. on Saturday, with the awards ceremony taking place upon completion of the finals.
Also on Saturday, there will be an National Rifle Association Banquet at 7 p.m. at the Carlson Center.