Rifle Team Opens Season With a Win

West Point, N.Y. --The Nebraska rifle team opened their season in winning fashion on Saturday, Oct. 16, at West Point, N.Y. Competing against shooters from the host school, the United States Military Academy, and Norwich University, NU took the smallbore team championship on their way to claiming the overall match title.

The Huskers were led by freshman Nicole Allaire, a New Jersey native who won the smallbore title firing a 1,173 out of a possible 1,200. Fellow freshman Amanda Trujillo (Brush, Colo.) finished second, with a score of 1,168. NU's Rachel Spiry, a Lincoln East graduate, fired a 1,129, while freshman Victoria Ridge (Langhorne, Pa.) shot a 1,114.

In the air rifle competition, Allaire finished second scoring a 388 out of a possible 400. Trujillo fired a 380, Spiry a 379, Ridge a 376 and sophomore Terim Richards (Lewisville, Neb.) a 377. Norwich's Emily Caruso took the title firing a 395.

The total match winner is determined by adding together the scores from the smallbore competition and the air rifle competition. Nebraska took the title scoring a 6,108 out of a possible 6,400. Norwich finished second with a 6,057 followed by Army with a 5,931.

Head Coach Karen Anthony said she was pleased with how the match went and is looking forward to the rest of the year.

"This match went really, really well," she said. "I'm very pleased with how they shot. It is a match that means a lot psychologically because it's the first match of the year. We're on our way towards a really great season in rifle."

The team will compete tomorrow, Sunday Oct. 17, at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.