West Virginia, Alaska shooters tune up in opener

Post date: Feb 1, 2015 2:36:05 PM

Instead, the top two teams in the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association Poll were using Saturday’s match to prepare for upcoming championships, including the NCAA Championships in March in the Patty Center.

“Maybe not so much of a test but as a warmup,” Nanooks senior Mats Eriksson said. “We have conference championships next week and we’re going to shoot air gun in the gym just to see how that works, because that’s how we’re going to do it over championships. So more like a test run.”

The Nanooks won smallbore 2,326-2,314 on Saturday in the E.F. Horton Rifle Range before the teams moved to the Patty Center gym for the air rifle event.

The Mountaineers won the air rifle competition 2,397-2,362 to win the match overall 4,691-4,688.

The Patriot Rifle Conference Championships are scheduled for Feb. 7-8 at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado. The NCAA Championships are set for March 13-14 in the Patty Center gym.

“That was one of our primary reasons for coming up and having this match,” Mountaineers head coach Jon Hammond said. “It’s really good preparation to not just be in the facility and shoot on the range and all that stuff, but also to compete against another really good team.”

The two teams meet again today at 9 a.m. in the E.F. Horton Rifle Range.

“It’s always fun to shoot against good shooters. It’s fun to shoot always, of course,” Eriksson said. “It’s a good team and we shot some good scores against them before.”

The Mountaineers, who have won the last two national titles, last came to Fairbanks during the 2012-13 season, where they lost a pair of matches to the Nanooks. According to Hammond, half of the group that came this season were not a part of 2012-13 Mountaineers team.

“Definitely expect us to be a little bit more prepared and just more comfortable,” Hammond said of returning to the Patty Center for the national championships in March. “We just have to soak in it and learn as much as we can while we’re here.”

Even with the win that kept their undefeated season going, Hammond said Mountaineers did not shoot their best on Saturday. Some of that was because of delays as they were traveling to Fairbanks.

“Some of them only got three, four hours of sleep. Between traveling and jet lag, you’re not going to walk in the next morning and shoot your best,” Hammond said. “I was definitely expecting them to struggle but that’s OK. Sometimes its good for them to be in positions that challenge them a little bit.”

Eriksson shot a match-high 583 in smallbore, tying with Nanooks junior Tim Sherry.

“It wasn’t great. I had some periods where I shot really well, Eriksson said of his smallbore score. “I’ve been working on a couple technical details over the past couple weeks and it’s starting to work. I still have some things I need to work more on. It’s good when you can put it together.”

Ryan Anderson (582) and Soren Butler (578) rounded out the Nanooks smallbore scores.

Elizabeth Gratz led the Mountaineers with a 581 in smallbore. Ziva Dvosrak followed with a 579 and Jean-Pierre Lucas shot 578. Garrett Spurgeon rounded out the team score with a 576.

Spurgeon and Dvorsak led the Mountaineers with a 597 each in air rifle. Gratz followed with a 592 and Lucas contributed a 591.

Sherry led the Nanooks with a 596 in air rifle, with Anderson following with a 594. Eriksson fired a 587 and freshman Luke Johnson shot a 585 to round out the team score.