Rifle finishes fourth at NCAA Championships
March 12, 2013
Jamie Foland
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The Alaska 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. Alaska 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 Alaska and TCU for the national title and runner-up honors, respectively.
Alaska'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 Alaska (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).