INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA Men's and Women's Rifle Committee officially announced the team and individual qualifiers for the 2005 National Collegiate Men's and Women's Rifle Championships. The University of Nevada, Reno and USA Shooting will co-host this year’s event at the Olympic Shooting Complex March 11-12 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
A total of 48 competitors will compete in this year’s NCAA Championships. The top eight teams in both the smallbore three-position and air rifle events were chosen to compete for the team championship, while the top 10 individuals in air rifle and the top 12 individuals in smallbore qualified for the individual championships.
Individual and team competitions in the smallbore three-position event will be held Friday, March 11. Individual and team competitions in air rifle will be held Saturday, March 12. The overall team champion will be determined by combining the smallbore and air rifle team totals into one aggregate score for each institution.
In 2004, the University of Alaska-Fairbanks (UAF), captured their sixth consecutive team title at the National Collegiate Men's and Women's Rifle Championships. The Nanooks won the crown with an aggregate score of 6,273 out of a possible 6,400 in smallbore and air rifle combined. The University of Nevada, Reno finished second with 6,185 points, followed by the U.S. Naval Academy at 6,182.
This year, the UAF Rifle Team will shoot for a record seventh consecutive title. Army, Jacksonville State, Kentucky, Navy and Nebraska are the only opponents that could stand in the way of the defending champions. Texas El-Paso and Xavier qualified in the smallbore events, while Memphis and Nevada, Reno qualified in air.
Last year’s smallbore champion, UAF’s Matt Rawlings (Wharton, TX) is back to compete for his second title. Now a sophomore, Rawlings has qualified in both guns and is a favorite to win back-to-back titles in the smallbore competition. He can, however, expect some great scores from his competitors, which include Christopher Abalo (Army), Jamie Beyerle (UAF), Chris Boggs (Kentucky), Kristina Fehlings (Nebraska), Joseph Hall (JSU), Joseph Hein (UAF), Michael Jablonski (Army), Hannah Kerr (Xavier), Chris Schneider (Navy), Matthew Wallace (UAF) and Leah Wilcox (UTEP).
In air rifle, the 2004 NCAA Champion, Murray State’s Morgan Hicks has graduated and junior Jamie Beyerle will be looking to reclaim that top spot after winning the title in 2003. Beyerle’s toughest competitor may be Ryan Tanoue, of Nevada, Reno, who is also a past champion. But once again, they both know better than to count out the other qualifiers, as Chris Abalo, Misty Chanek (Nebraska), Chris Dautel (Tennessee Tech), Kristina Fehlings, Andrea Franzen (Nebraska), Lucas Leinberger (Army), Matt Rawlings and Beth Tidmore (Memphis) all vie for their first title in air.
For more information, please contact Sara Greenlee, USA Shooting’s media director at 719-866-4896 or email sara.greenlee@usashooting.org. For more information on the NCAA Rifle Championships you can also visit http://www.ncaasports.com. |
