Post date: Feb 7, 2014 1:05:07 PM
By Danny Martin DMARTIN@NEWSMINER.COM
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The third-ranked Alaska Nanooks rifle team sustained its first dual-meet loss of the season, falling to No. 1-ranked University of West Virginia on Thursday in Morgantown, W.Va.
The Mountaineers compiled a total score of 4,709 to a 4,680 for the Nanooks, who had won nine dual meets in a row this season.
It also was a meeting of two programs which have captured 25 of the 34 NCAA team championships in their respective histories. Alaska has 10 titles, with the last one in 2008, and West Virginia has an NCAA-record 15, with the last one coming at the 2013 national meet in Columbus, Ohio.
On Thursday, the Nanooks squeezed out a narrow victory in the smallbore — 2,332 to 2,329 — while the Mountaineers took the overall meet victory with a substantial margin in the air rifle — 2,380 to Alaska’s 2,348.
“The biggest thing is getting them to believe in themselves,” Nanooks head coach Dan Jordan, in a University of Alaska Fairbanks press release, said of Thursday’s setback.
“They are as good a team as anybody and showed that in smallbore today,” Jordan continued. “The biggest thing we need to work on — and we talked about it — is getting the confidence back and believing in our air gun.”
Nanooks sophomore Lorelie Stanfield led all smallbore shooters, as the former Lathrop High School standout recorded a 587 at the Mountaineer Rifle Range.
“To have the high score on the line with that level of two good teams out there is impressive,” Jordan said. “Against Ohio State, she shot a personal-best 588; so she was one point off that today.
“She’s turning into a solid, dependable shooter,” Jordan added.
Nanooks junior Mats Eriksson placed fourth with a 583 while junior Ryan Anderson and sophomore Tim Sherry placed seventh and eighth, respectively, with 582 and 580. Senior Mike Liuzza finished 13th with a 575.
West Virginia juniors Thomas Kyanko and Ziva Dvorsak placed second and third with respective scores of 586 and 584.
Sherry posted the top score for the Nanooks and placed fifth in air rifle, shooting 591. Anderson finished ninth (589), followed by Liuzza and Eriksson in 10th and 11th with 584s. Stanfield placed 12th (583).
The Mountaineers swept the top four places, led by junior Maren Prediger’s 597. Dvorsak was runner-up with 596, followed by sophomore Garrett Spurgeon (594) and Kyanko (593).
The Nanooks next compete in the Patriot Rifle Conference Championship at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday and Sunday.
“It will be a good experience for them and a good chance the see format a little bit,” Jordan said. “I’ll tell them to just go in there and enjoy it.
“It’s the first match (for Alaska) at the conference championship and we’ll go in there and be a part of it, remember it and try to shoot some good scores,” he added.
The Nanooks are 3-0 against conference opponents this season.