UAF Rifle Marching Toward Sixth NCAA Title

Submitted by Kevin Raap
Phone: (907) 474-6807
03/14/03

WEST POINT, NY -- A sixth national collegiate championship banner is fluttering within reach of the University of Alaska Fairbanks rifle team’s talented fingers.

The Nanook sharpshooters finished the first half of the two-day NCAA championship match today at West Point, NY. Matt Emmons took his usual place at the head of the smallbore pack, firing an 1191 that well outstripped the 1183 of his nearest competitor, Bradley Wheeldon of Kentucky. Emmons shot the best kneeling score of the day with 399, earned the same score in prone and a 393 in standing.

Third place went to UAF’s Jamie Beyerle with 1182, who shot an impressive 398 in kneeling and 397 in prone, wrapping it up with a 387 standing. Joe Hein finished fifth with 1178, Per Sandberg sixth with 1176 and Karl Olsson ninth with 1170.

The race for the air rifle title will be a tight one. Jamie Beyerle took command of the competition on the first with a 395 that included of pair of 100s. Teammate Sandberg nipped at Beyerle’s heels with a 394, narrowly beating out a 393 from Kentucky’s Wheeldon, who in turn edged just one point higher than the 392 from Morgan Hicks of Murray State. Smallbore master Emmons faltered in the air rifle section and was hurt by a low 93 in the first round. He recovered in the second with a 98, but a third-round 95 left him with an uncharacteristic 383 for the day.

Competition concludes tomorrow. UAF has dominated the collegiate rifle scene in recent years, racking up a total of five championships to date: 1994, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. The Nanooks were undefeated in regular season matches in 2002-03. A sixth national title may only be a day away.

Contact: Kevin Raap, sports information director, (907) 474-6807 or fnkmr@uaf.edu.