Post date: Mar 11, 2012 4:10:39 PM
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Alaska Nanooks' rifle team achieved their goal of landing a top-four finish at the 2012 NCAA Men's and Women's Rifle Championships, as they captured bronze in the final team standings with an aggregate score of 4661 on Saturday at Ohio State's French Field House.
Alaska tied the defending NCAA Champion Kentucky, who also shot a 4661, but lost the tie-breaker that went to the team that had the most center (10-point) shots. The Wildcats had the advantage, 264-254, and were named the national runner up.
Texas Christian, who was in third after Friday's smallbore relays, overcame a five-point deficit to claim their second NCAA title in the last three seasons with an aggregate of 4676.
Every point proved crucial, as a single point proved the difference between the Nanooks taking third with a 2349 and West Virginia taking second on the final day of shooting with a 2350. The Blue and Gold entered the day in fourth place, after scoring 2312 in smallbore on the first day. TCU took the air rifle title as well with a 2353.
The Nanooks' top shooter on the day was freshman Mats Eriksson, who notched a 590 and earned a spot in the 10-shot final, where he finished eight with a 98.9 for a combined score of 688.8 and eighth among shooters competing for the individual air rifle crown.
West Virginia's Petra Zublasing tied TCU's Sarah Scherer for the match high of 593 in their respective relays, but Zublasing was almost three points better in the final and used her 103.2 victory to take her to the top of the podium as the individual national champion.
In addition to Eriksson's 590, Alaska's team score was a product of freshman Ryan Anderson's 587, and sophomore duo Anna Hjelmevoll and Michael Liuzza's 586s.
The National Rifle Association will announce the First and Second Team All-Americans at tonight's banquet. The First Team is composed of the nation's top 10 shooters, based on their season averages in each discipline up through the NCAA Qualifying matches. The Second Team entails the next 10 best shooters, ranked 11th-20th.
For the 2012 Rifle Championships Final Results go to the link below