Nanooks shoot all-time high against Fightin’ Engineers

The Nanooks, ranked No. 2 in the latest Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association poll, finished one point behind No. 1 West Virginia in qualifying for the NCAA Championships.

The Nanooks fired a 2,346 in smallbore in a NCAA Qualifier match on Saturday at the E.F. Horton Rifle Range. The Nanooks finished with a total score of 4,712, beating Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

The Fightin’ Engineers, an NCAA Division III team, fired a season-best 4,416.

“The training and hard work, and then getting to match and letting that training pay off is good to see,” Nanooks redshirt freshman Sagen Maddalena said after an air rifle relay.

Saturday marked the second time this season the Nanooks have broken the program record for team score. The Nanooks first broke the record when fired a 4,711 on Jan. 12 at Ohio State.

Maddalena, from Groveland, California, fired the second-highest score in both air rifle and smallbore, but her scores didn’t count towards the Nanooks team scores. If she had been selected as a counting score, her scores would have added 10 points to the Nanooks score.

The Nanooks, who host the NCAA Championships on March 13-14 at the Patty Center, shot a 2,366 in air rifle.

Maddalena fired a 595 in air rifle and 587 in smallbore.

“When I get up there on the line, I don’t know whats going on. I just get in my own bubble,” Maddalena said.

Ryan Anderson, a senior from Great Falls, Virginia, led the Nanooks in air rifle with a 598 while Tim Sherry fired a match-high 589 to lead the Nanooks to the record-breaking smallbore score.

“Kind of just for ourselves, it would build up some confidence,” Anderson said of shooting the high team score. “That’ll just be a good confidence builder for the next match.”

Redshirt sophomore Soren Butler took second in smallbore with a 587 while Anderson shot a 586. Senior Mats Eriksson (584) and junior Lorelie Stanfield (581) rounded out the Nanooks record-breaking smallbore group.

Eriksson took second in air rifle, shooting a 592. Sherry followed with a 591 while freshman Luke Johnson and Stanfield each shot a 585.

Even with Saturday’s match being the last one before the national title matches, the Nanooks said they weren’t under any pressure to put up a good score.

“When you’re coming to the range, it doesn’t feel tense or anyone’s up tight,” Maddalena said. “We’re on our home turf. We just have to put up a good one like we’ve been preparing all semester for.”

Allison Carlson led the Fightin’ Engineers in both events. She fired a 574 in air rifle and a 553 in smallbore. Suzanne Eisenberger followed in second in both events, shooting a 570 in air rifle and a 546 in smallbore.

Ivel Collins took third in air rifle for the Fightin’ Engineers with a 548 followed by John Overton (545) and Trent Bauters (533).

Overton and Collins finished tied for third on the team in smallbore, both shooting a 540. Jessica Ames rounded out the Fightin’ Engineers team score with a 509.

Even with the record-breaking score on Saturday, the Nanooks are always pushing to get better.

“Each of us individually will have our own things to work on between now and then. As a team, I’m sure we’ll figure out what we can do all together to work towards our common goal of getting a higher team score,” Anderson said. “Maybe some intensity drills will help with that. That would help benefit everyone.”