Post date: Jun 27, 2015 5:32:03 PM
Danny Martin Dmartin@newsminer.com
FAIRBANKS—Unofficially, Matt Emmons, an Olympic medalist and a former Alaska Nanooks standout, matched a world record at the USA Shooting National Championships.
Officially, he set a national record while becoming the overall champion in the men’s 50-meter three position competition on Friday at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Current Nanook Luke Johnson became the junior men’s champion for the 50-meter three position that was conducted on the first two days of the national meet at the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit at Fort Benning.
Emmons and Johnson are among 10 Nanooks past and present competing in the national championships that run through Tuesday.
Also Friday, Ryan Anderson, a Nanooks All-American last season who recently graduated from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, placed third overall in the men’s 50-meter three position and Sagen Maddalena, who’s entering her junior senior for the Nanooks, finished ninth in the women’s 10-meter air rifle.
Emmons compiled a two-day total of 2,382 in the 50M three position. He shot a score of 1,187 on Friday, after recording a first-day effort of 1,186 to match the single-day, world-record of Russia’s Nazar Louginets, set at the Munich World Cup in June 2014.
Emmons’ 1,186, though, doesn’t count as a world mark because it occurred in the U.S. national championships. It is a national record for prone position gold medalist in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, and the eight-time All-American for the Nanooks, helping the NCAA team championships all four seasons of his career.
“He’s been amazing,’’ Nanooks head coach Dan Jordan, during a cellphone interview on Friday, said of Emmons. “He’s medaled in a couple of World Cups this year and he’s definitely one of the favorites for the Olympics next year.”
Jordan said that improved shooting in the kneeling position helped Emmons at Fort Benning.
“He’s always been a strong prone shooter. He won a couple of Olympic medals in prone,” Jordan said. “This weekend, he got the kneeling position figured out.”
The native of Mount Holly Township, New Jersey earned the silver medal in the prone at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and gained bronze in three position in London in 2012.
Emmons also has 27 medals in International Shooting Sports Federation World Cups, including three this spring. In April, he won gold and silver in three- position matches in Changwon, Korea, and in May, he took bronze in the same category in the World Cup USA at Fort Benning.
On Friday at Fort Benning, Anderson finished with a three-day total of 2,344, compiling a 1,168 score on Thursday and a 1,167 on the last day of the three position.
“He’s really ramping it up,” Jordan said of Anderson, who like Emmons, is a member of the U.S. national team. “His main goal is Rio next year, so he’s been working super hard to get prepared for that.”
The 2016 Summer Olympics are in Rio de Janeiro.
The native of Great Falls, Virginia, placed second in the individual smallbore finals at the NCAA Championships last March at the UAF Patty Center.
Johnson, who was among 72 junior entries and 103 overall participants in the three-position in the U.S. Army Markmanship Unit, gained the junior national title by firing a 1,142 on Thursday and a 1,153 on Friday for a 2,382 total.
The native of Marysville, Pennsylvania, also earned a spot on the U.S. Junior National Team.
“It leads to him potentially getting invited to some international matches throughout the year, depending on his schedule,” said Jordan, “and it opens up an opportunity for him to get invited to the national team training camp.”
Johnson’s results at Fort Benning reflected improvement he made late last season with the Nanooks. Jordan said Johnson was a decent shooter when he came to the program but he had to improve on two weaknesses, including controlling his emotions on the range.
“He would get a little worked up during matches, losing his cool and that led to a breakdown of fundamentals,’’ Jordan said.
“The scores he put up here over the last two days are comparable to anyone else on the team,” Jordan added. “He’s turned his weaknesses into strengths and he’s going to be a huge asset for the team this year.”
Maddalena, competing for the first time since this year’s NCAA Championships, just missed qualifying for the women’s 10M air rifle finals after she placed ninth on Friday with a two-day total of 824.3.
While shooting 411.1 on Thursday and 412.2 on Friday, the native of Groveland, California, was recovering from shoulder surgery that occurred after the NCAA meet.
“She’s not back to 100 percent, but she should be ready to go by the time the collegiate season starts,” Jordan said.
Jaimie Barnes, a Lathrop High School graduate who’s going into her senior year for the Nanooks, finished 55th with a total of 803.2.
Six Nanooks were among the top-20 finishers in the men’s 50M three position.
Tim Sherry, who will be a senior this coming season for the Nanooks, also placed 10th with a 2,322 total. Soren Butler, who’s entering his junior season, finished tied for 16th with a 2,308 total and former Nanook Michael Liuzza followed in 17th place with 2,305.
JT Schnering, an incoming Nanooks freshman and 2015 Lathrop graduate, placed 23rd among junior men and 49th overall with a 2,251. Nathan Taylor, who’s also entering his first season with the Nanooks, finished with a 2,117 to place 60th among juniors and 90th overall.