Post date: Mar 13, 2014 2:52:00 PM
By Tim O’Donnell TODONNELL@NEWSMINER.COM
FAIRBANKS — Dan Jordan described Lorelie Stanfield as having an attitude when it comes to shooting.
“She wants it, she wants it bad and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to get there,” Jordan, the Alaska Nanooks rifle head coach, said.
That attitude has been showing up in the second half of the season.
Since the Nanooks’ match against Ohio State on Jan. 18, the sophomore has been a counting scorers in all four of Alaska’s regular-season matches in both smallbore and air rifle. The former Lathrop High School has never scored lower than a 581 in either discipline for the Nanooks.
“It’s no more of just trying to work things out as I shoot,’’ Stanfield said. “It’s now more of ‘OK, this isn’t going right, stop, figure it out and then move on from there.’”
Stanfield is trying to continue that success, along with the rest of the No. 2 Nanooks, at the NCAA Championships at Murray State University in Murray, Ky., on Friday and Saturday.
The Nanooks will go up against No. 5 Jacksonville State, No. 3 Kentucky, No. 6 Memphis, No. 4 Nebraska, No. 10 Texas Christian, the No. 7 U.S Military Academy and No. 1 West Virginia.
Stanfield’s performance down the stretch has led to her being one of Jordan’s go-to choices when picking counting scorers, especially against some of the top competition.
“She thrives under pressure. She likes performing well at those big matches,” Jordan said.
Stanfield showed that on Feb. 6 when the Nanooks traveled to West Virigina. While the Nanooks lost the match, Stanfield led Alaska with a 587 in smallbore while shooting a 583 in air rifle.
That loss may have been good for the Nanooks, Tim Sherry said.
“It definitely kind of opened our eyes a little bit,” Sherry said. “Reminded us it’s not going to be a coast to the championships or anything like that. we’re going to have to keep working.”
Jordan said: “It humbles you up. Maybe you realize you’ve got to work on things a little bit more. You just can’t take it for granted that it’s going to happen.”
The Nanooks learned their lesson from that match and put it to use in the first-ever Patriot Rifle Conference Championships on Feb. 8-9 at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.
“That was the whole plan with the conference championships,” Sherry, a sophomore said. “It’s set up exactly like the NCAA Championships will be, with smallbore the first day and air gun the second day.
“It was meant to really get us ready for this NCAA championships,’’ Sherry added.
Though the NCAA Championships can bring some added pressure, the Nanooks are still feeling good about their chances to bring home their 11th national title.
“It’s no different than shooting here at home. It’s just another match,” Stanfield said. “We know what we need to go out there and do. We’re not looking to put up personal bests every single match.”