Nanooks rifle squad squeaks past Mountaineers

Post date: Feb 2, 2015 1:24:00 PM

By Tim O’Donnell TODONNELL@NEWSMINER.COM

FAIRBANKS — A day after falling to No. 1 West Virginia, the No. 2 ranked Alaska Nanooks rifle team got their revenge.

The Nanooks squeaked out a one point win Sunday at the E.F. Horton Rifle Range to split a two-match series and hand the Mountaineers their first loss of the season.

The Nanooks won the smallbore event for the second straight day as they won 4,706-4,705. The Mountaineers won 4,691-4,688 on Saturday.

Sunday’s match marked the first time both teams had gone over 4,700 when facing each other.

Mats Eriksson led the Nanooks in smallbore with a 586 followed closely by Ryan Anderson at 585 and Tim Sherry at 584. Lorelie Stanfield (582) and Soren Butler (581) rounded out the Nanooks team score.

The Nanooks outshot the Mountaineers 2,337-2,327 in smallbore.

Thomas Kyanko led the Mountaineers with a 589 in smallbore, followed by Garrett Spurgeon at 583. Ziva Dvorsak added a 580, Maren Prediger shot a 575 and Elizabeth Gratz fired a 569 for the Mountaineers.

The Mountaineers won air rifle 2,378-2,369. They also won the air rifle event on Saturday.

Prediger and Dvorsak led the Mountaineers in air rifle, each firing a match-high 596. Spurgeon shot a 594, Kyanko fired a 592 and Grazt added a 587 for the Mountaineers.

Sagen Maddalena and Anderson tied the Nanooks lead with a 594 in air rifle. Luke Johnson followed with a 591 while Eriksson shot a 590. Sherry rounded out the team score with a 588.

The Nanooks now head to Colorado where they’ll face Nevada on Thursday at the United States Air Force Academy before shooting in the Patriot Rifle Conference Championships on Saturday and Sunday.