Huskers Set Sights on NCAA Championships

For the second consecutive year, the Nebraska rifle team will compete for a national title at the NCAA Championships this Friday and Saturday, March 11-12, in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Huskers were one of six teams to qualify in both smallbore and air rifle, joining six-time defending champion Alaska-Fairbanks, Army, Jacksonville State, Kentucky and Navy. UTEP and Xavier qualified only in smallbore, while Memphis and Nevada qualified only in air rifle.

 

The Huskers will be represented in the NCAA Championships by junior Misty Chanek, sophomore Kristina Fehlings and freshmen Kim Chrostowski, Andrea Franzen, Eva Richert and Kirsten Weiss. Chanek and Fehlings will represent the Huskers in both disciplines. Chrostowski and Weiss will shoot only smallbore, while Franzen and Richert will shoot only air rifle.

 

Head Coach Launi Meili feels good about where her team is at headed into nationals.

 

"The girls that have been performing all year are continuing to shoot well," Meili said. "We are pushing to finish in one of the top spots in air rifle, and I expect us to immediately rebound from our disappointing performance in smallbore at the conference championships."

 

The University of Nevada-Reno and USA Shooting will host the championships, which will be held at the Olympic Training Center. The Huskers’ appearance marks the fourth time in the program’s seven-year existence that the team has made it to the NCAA Championships.

 

Building off the experience gained at last year's championships, Meili has the team focusing on succeeding in match situations. She is looking forward to having her team shoot on electronic targets at the Olympic Training Center.

 

"They are really focusing on quality right now and getting the job done within the short amount of time that we have," Meili said. "The girls will be shooting on electronic targets at NCAAs, so they will not have to move their rifles and will be able to focus in once they sight in on the target."

 

In addition to participating in the team championships, three Huskers qualified to shoot for the individual championship. Fehlings individually qualified in both disciplines, while Chanek and Franzen qualified in air rifle. Overall, 10 individuals qualified in air rifle and 12 individuals qualified in smallbore.

 

Individual and team competition in smallbore will be held Friday, March 11, with air rifle competitions held Saturday, March 12. Matches will begin at 9 a.m. CST each day. Team champions will be crowned in both disciplines, and the overall team champion will be determined by combining the smallbore and air rifle team totals for each school.

 

In the 2004 NCAA Championships, Alaska Fairbanks captured its sixth consecutive team title. The Nanooks won the crown with an aggregate score of 6,273 out of a possible 6,400.  Nevada-Reno finished second with 6,185 points, while Navy finished third with a total of 6,182. Nebraska finished sixth overall with an aggregate score of 6,147.

 

Fehlings, Underwood Honored by Conference

 

Sophomore Kristina Fehlings received the highest conference honor when she was honored as GARC Shooter of the Year at the conference championships. Consistently placing as one of the Huskers' top shooters all year, Fehlings is averaging 584.5 in smallbore and 589.6 in air rifle. Fehlings, who will be competing for individual crowns in both smallbore and air rifle at the NCAA Championships, also earned first-team all-conference honors in both disciplines.

 

Sophomore Stacy Underwood was also honored by the conference when she was named Nebraska's GARC Scholar Athlete. Underwood represents the Husker rifle team on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, while also serving as the Huskers' team captain.