Former Nanooks in top 5 at rifle champs

Post date: Jul 1, 2015 7:30:43 AM

By Tim O’Donnell TODONNELL@NEWSMINER.COM

FAIRBANKS — A pair of former Alaska Nanooks shooters sit in the top five after one day of the men’s 10-meter air rifle competition at the USA Shooting National Championships.

Ryan Anderson and Mike Liuzza finished third and fourth respectively on Monday in the match at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Air rifle is the final men’s rifle event at the national championship.

Anderson fired a 621.0 to advance to the individual finals, where he shot a 185.4 to finish third.

Liuzza fired a 623.2 to earn a berth in the finals. Liuzza fired a 120.7 in the finals.

Nanooks senior Tim Sherry finished just outside the top 10. Sherry fired a 619.8 to place 12th on the first day. He was two-tenths of a point out of 10th place.

Soren Butler, a redshirt junior for the Nanooks, sits in 31st after shooting a 611.1 on Monday. Sophomore Luke Johnson shot a 603.3 in the first round of air rifle and sits in 51st.

Incoming Nanooks freshman and Lathrop High School grad JT Schnering shot a 600.9, good for 54th while fellow incoming freshman Nathan Taylor sits six-tenths of a point back in 56th.

Connor Gilman, a former Lathrop teammate of Schnering,fired a 594.7 on Monday and is in 71st entering the final round of shooting today.

The women are wrapping up the national championships with a 50-meter three position match.

Jaimie Barnes, a Lathrop grad and UAF senior, shot a 558 on Monday and sits in 51st entering the final round today. Hutchison’s Amy Gentry is in 69th after firing a 549 on Monday.