To no great surprise, The UAF Rifle team out-shot their Nebraska opponents by 52 points this Saturday at the NRA Collegiate Sectional held at the Patty Center.

The UAF rifle team's only defeat remains a mere 10-point loss to the U.S. Naval Academy compared to the 87-point average lead they've managed so far this season. In addition to winning the collegiate, the rifle team matched the women's national record for small-bore accuracy and beat the team record for the 4-person air rifle event.

Jamie Beyerle matched the individual small-bore record with 590 points (out of a possible 600). Beyerle is a psychology major from Pennsylvania. She is currently in her junior year at UAF and has been in shooting competitions since the age of eight. Her goal is to make the 2008 Olympic team and eventually join the Army Marksmanship Unit. Ironically enough, the record she matched on Saturday originally belonged solely to Launi Meili, who is currently coaching the visiting Nebraska rifle team.

Matt Wallace led the four-person air rifle event with 595 points, followed closely by Matt Rawlings, who scored 594 points and Beyerle with 493 points. Wallace was born here in Fairbanks, and is currently a senior pursuing a degree in Technology at UAF. Like Beyerle, he has been shooting since age eight and plans to make the 2008 Olympic team.

On Sunday, both UNL and UAF took aim for their NCAA qualifiers.

UAF beat Nebraska by 19 points, thanks to the bull-blinding accuracy of Jamie Beyerle and Matt Rawlings. Beyerle continued to slaughter her targets with a 596 in the individual air rifle event, the highest score displayed this weekend at the UAF shooting range. She was followed closely by Matt Rawlings (UAF) with a 595, Andrea Franzen (UNL) and Kristina Fehlings (UNL) who both shot 593. The individual small-bore event belonged to Beyerle (593 points) as well, followed by Kristina Fehlings from UNL (591), Matt Rawlings of UAF (588), and Joe Hein of UAF (also, 588).

“We had a very good day today,” said Nanook Head Coach Glenn Dubis. “The team was very solid in both guns, and I’m certainly pleased with the results. I don’t think that there’s any question of whether or not we’ll qualify for the NCAAs, and I think that Nebraska is also going to qualify, and I think we’ll see them again at nationals."

The NCAA accepts teams based on national rank, not points, so it will take another couple of weeks before they can publish their results as they have data from all over the nation to compile.

The NCAA championships will be held the March 11 and 12 of March in Colorado Springs, after a two-day NRA sectional coming up this weekend.

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