Huskers Trail UAF after Smallbore

Colorado Springs, Colo. ? The Nebraska rifle team trails the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks, 2,329-2,322, after the smallbore competition of the 2006 NCAA Championships at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.  Army (2,318), MurrayState (2,310) and Navy (2,393) round out the top five teams after day one of the competition.

 

“We’re seven points behind Alaska-Fairbanks right now and we really feel that that is within striking distance,” Head Coach Launi Meili said.  “We think that if we go out and really shoot hard in air (rifle) tomorrow, that we could definitely catch them”

 

Junior Kristina Fehlings notched the highest individual Husker finish with a score of 585 and 98.3 in the finals for fifth-place overall.  Fehlings’ finish is the highest for any individual NU shooter in smallbore since Nicole Allaire won the event for the Huskers in 2000.

 

“We’re all very excited for Kristina,” Meili said.  “The whole team went out and shot their best today and I’m very proud of everyone.”

 

Senior Misty Chanek scored an aggregate score of 581, while sophomores Kirsten Weiss and Andrea Franz?n rounded out the Husker lineup with scores of 577 and 579, respectively.  This was Franz?n’s first opportunity to shoot as part of the Nebraska smallbore team all season and her score was two points above her season average.

 

The 2006 NCAA Championships concludes tomorrow with the air rifle competition beginning at 9 a.m. CST.  Shooting tomorrow for the Huskers will be Fehlings, Chanek, Franz?n and sophomore Kim Chrostwoski.  Team champions will be crowned based on aggregate scores from both days immediately following the end of the match.

 

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