University of Alaska Fairbanks Athletics

Day One Results
 
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Alaska did not disappoint on day one of the inaugural Patriot Rifle Conference Championship, claiming the smallbore competition by over 30 points on Saturday at the Lt. Hugh W. Wylie Range on the campus of Ohio State.
 
In the individual final, the Nanooks (9-1, 3-0 PRC) took three of the top four spots, led by junior Ryan Anderson (Great Falls, Va./Biological Sciences), who was crowned the first PRC smallbore individual champion after outlasting the seven other top scorers in a knock-out style match.
 
"Ryan's really stepped and done well in the finals in the NCAA Championship the last two years," head coach Dan Jordan said. "It was really fun to see the final with three of the eight being from Alaska and it was really close at the end for the last couple shots."
 
Sophomore Lorelie Stanfield (Fairbanks, Alaska/English) took silver in the final as she was 1.1 points back of Anderson while sophomore Tim Sherry (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mechanical Engineering) was fourth, behind Ohio State's Amanda Luoma, who seized the bronze.
 
"To see us have three of the final four, that was great," Jordan said. "Tim made a really strong comeback and Lorelie almost caught Ryan. She was really pushing him and wanted to be in the top spot on the team."
 
In the 60-shot match for score, Alaska led the way with a 2339 and will take a 33 point lead into the air rifle portion on Sunday against Texas Christian, which shot a 2306.
 
Host OSU is one point back of TCU with a 2305, while the United States Air Force Academy is fourth (2303) and Nevada sits in fifth (2260). The sixth member, Texas-El Paso (UTEP) was unable to make the trip due to mechanical issues with the plane coming out of Texas.
 
Sherry fired a match-high 588 while Anderson and Stanfield were tied for second-highest mark with matching 587s. Anderson edged Stanfield in the standings, however, due to his 35 center shots to her 32.
 
"Going into smallbore, there was a lot of confidence," Jordan said. "Ryan, Lorelie and Tim had top-class scores and are sitting really well. Tomorrow, going into air gun, we talked about loosening up and having some fun in the first year of conference and trusting in our air gun abilities."
 
Junior Mats Eriksson (Malung, Sweden/Business Administration) shot a 577, which was the 11th-best score by a PRC shooter, while senior Mike Liuzza (New Orleans, La./Business Administration) completed the team's day with a 572.
 
Five other shooters fired a 580 or better in the smallbore match, including 581s by TCU's Hannah Black, OSU's Luoma and Air Force's David Higgins, while TCU's Megan Lee and OSU's Remington Lyman both tallied 580s.
 
The action resumes tomorrow at 8 a.m. EST at the PRC Championship with the air gun portion of the championship match. Live targets will be available for the both relays (Relay 1 & Relay 2).
 
2014 Patriot Rifle Conference Championship Smallbore Scores
1. Alaska – 2339 (588, 587, 587, 577)
2. Texas Christian - 2306
3. Ohio State – 2305
4. Air Force – 2303
5. Nevada – 2260
6. Texas-El Paso – did not compete
 
Alaska's Smallbore Scores (for team total – does not include final)
1. Tim Sherry – 588 (31x)
2. Ryan Anderson – 587 (35x)
3. Lorelie Stanfield – 587 (32x)
11. Mats Eriksson – 577 (25x)
17. Mike Liuzza – 572 (21x)
 
(x number indicates center shots)