Huskers Shoot Well in Ohio

Columbus, Ohio - The Nebraska women’s rifle team tallied its second-highest score of the year - 6,172 - to finish fourth out of 14 teams at Xavier’s Walsh Invitational in Cincinnati, Ohio. Defending national champion Alaska-Fairbanks won the team title with 6,249 points. NU traveled to Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday, where it defeated Ohio State 6,152-6,035 to improve to 3-2 on the year.

At the Walsh Invitational on Saturday, sophomore Misty Chanek led the Huskers with an agreggate score of 1,555. Chanek totaled 386 points in the air rifle competition and finished with 1,169 points in smallbore which earned her 11th place out of 179 total competitors. Senior co-captain Melissa Downsbrough led the team in the air rifle competition, finishing sixth out of 185 competitors with a score of 390.

Against Ohio State on Sunday, Chanek was the top NU finisher, placing second overall with an aggregate score of 1,553. Chanek placed second in the smallbore competition with 1,164 points, while freshman Kristina Fehlings won the individual title in the air rifle competition, finishing with 393 points.

On Saturday, Nebraska finished fourth in the smallbore competition, led by Chanek’s 1,169 points. Downsbrough was second on the team and 19th overall with a season-high total of 1,164. Freshmen Kristina Fehlings and Stacy Underwood rounded out NU’s team score with 1,157 and 1,132 points, respectively.

Three Huskers competing unattached in the event all set personal bests. Junior Laura Johnson finished with 1,151 points, senior Karen Aspden totaled 1,146 points and sophomore Sarah Quinn completed the string of personal bests by finishing with 1,143 points.

In the air rifle competition NU finished third, as Fehlings was second on the team and 11th overall with a score of 389, followed by Chanek who finished with 386 points. Underwood rounded out the Huskers’ team score with 385 points.

Competing unattached in the event, Quinn recorded her second personal best of the day, finishing with 387 points. Johnson and Aspden also competed, finishing with scores of 383 and 377 points, respectively.

Head Coach Launi Meili was encouraged by the performance of her team on Saturday.

"I thought this was probably our best meet of the year so far," Meili said. "We shot pretty well and are starting to head toward our potential."

Against the Buckeyes, NU was dominant in the air rifle competition, defeating Ohio State 1,551-1,490. Led by Fehlings’ first-place finish, the Huskers swept the top three spots, and all seven shooters finished in the top eight. Chanek finished second with 389 points and Downsbrough was third with 385 points. Johnson, who competed as the fourth team shooter after her impressive performance on Saturday, tied for fourth in the competition. Competing unattached, Quinn fiinished sixth with 382 points, while Aspden and Underwood tied for seventh with 381 points.

In the smallbore competition, NU defeated the Buckeyes 4,601-4,545. The Huskers placed four shooters in the top five, led by Chanek’s second-place finish. Downsbrough (1,150) and Fehlings (1,145) finished third and fourth, respectively, and Johnson rounded out the team score by placing fifth with 1,142 points.

Competing unattached, Aspden and Underwood tied for seventh, with 1,131 points. Quinn finished in 11th-place with 1,107 points.

Nebraska hosts its second home meet of the season on Saturday, Dec. 6, against Missouri-Kansas City at the NU Rifle Range beginning at 9 a.m.