Rifle in first place after first day at nationals

Submitted by Dave Geringer
Phone: (907) 474-6807
03/11/05

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO-The University of Alaska Fairbanks rifle team is in a familiar place after the first day of action at the NCAA Rifle Championships at the United States Olympic Training Center.

The defending champion Nanooks are in first place, and sophomore Matt Rawlings (Wharton,TX) is the individual small-bore champion. Alaska Fairbanks has won six consecutive NCAA rifle titles and is going for a record seventh in a row.

UAF has 2334 points, and the Nanooks have a six-point lead over second-place Army. Jacksonville State is third with 2320, and Nebraska is fourth with 2319.

Rawlings won the small-bore title by shooting a score of 101.5 in the finals, and winning a one-shot shootoff with teammate Jamie Beyerle, a junior from Lebanon, PA. Beyerle was the leader after the first round of competition with a score of 588, Rawling shot a 585, senior Matt Wallace (Fairbanks, AK) shot a 582, and senior Joe Hein (Mason, M) shot a 519.

UAF’s top three made the finals, which are open to the top eight finishers (Rawlings was fifth and Wallace sixth). Rawlings scores orf 585 and 101.5 added up to 686.5, the same as Beyerle totaled with her scores of 588, and 98.5 in the finals. That necessitated the one-shot shootoff, which Rawlings won with a score of 9.3 to Beyerle’s 6.9. Rawlings shot 99.6 in the finals for an aggregate score of 681.6.

For more information on this and other news from UAF athletics visit www.gonanooks.com