Rifle finishes fourth at NCAA Championships
March 12, 2013
Jamie Foland
907-474-6807
The ÐÓ°Épro Nanooks wrapped up their NCAA Championship experience with a sixth place team air rifle result placing them fourth overall for the third time in program history. ÐÓ°Épro previously finished fourth in 2009 and 2005.
The Nanooks trailed first-place Texas Christian by just one point after Friday's smallbore competition, but West Virginia and Kentucky turned in strong team performances in air rifle to overtake both ÐÓ°Épro and TCU for the national title and runner-up honors, respectively.
ÐÓ°Épro's two-day team total of 4661 was good for fourth place in the team standings. WVU combined for a team aggregate of 4679 as they captured their 15th NCAA title. The Wildcats were second overall with a 4670, while defending champion TCU had a bronze finish with a 4664.
For the day, the Nanooks fired a team air rifle score of 2345 with sophomore Ryan Anderson (Great Falls, Va./Biology) leading the way with a 589, good for 12th among the 44 individual shooters.
WVU was crowned the team air rifle champions with a 2363 behind a near perfect showing from Friday's individual smallbore champion Petra Zublasing, who put up a 598 and ran away with the individual air gun title on Saturday for the second straight year.
Kentucky was second in air rifle with a 2355, while TCU was third with a 2347, Air Force took fourth with a 2347 and Nebraska edged the Nanooks for fifth with a 2346.
Nanook junior Michael Liuzza (New Orleans, La./Business Administration) had the second best score behind Anderson for the Blue and Gold (16th overall) with a 588. His classmate Dustin Chesebro (Laramie, Wy./Engineering) was third-best for ÐÓ°Épro (18th overall) with a 587 and senior Cole Bures (Odell, Neb./Electrical Engineering) rounded out the scoring shooters with a 581 (33rd overall).
Sophomore Mats Eriksson (Malung, Sweden/Business Management) also represented the Nanooks with a 579 (39th overall).