Taking full advantage of a weekend off, the Akron Zips rifle team arrived at Morehead State fresh and ready to compete for the competition in Kentucky on Saturday, February 8, 2025. As the match neared completion, it became clear Akron would own most all the categories, with the Zips defeating the Morehead State Eagles with 50-point cushion, 4706-307X to 4656-258X.
All but two of the Akron rifle team shooters fired smallbore scores in the solid 580s, led by junior Natalia Siek, who earned the match top-gun honor with a rather nice 587 out of the possible 600 points. Right behind Siek were three Akron seniors: Gavin Perkowski (586), Erin Schnupp (583) and Lex Kirk (582), rounding out the top four.
The 2338 smallbore score for Akron may not have been the team’s top score of the season, but it was only six points shy of the season-best score fired two weeks ago against West Virginia University. On a side note, we always strive to fire the prone position as close to perfect as possible. This effort was evident by Perkowski, senior Joseph Hahn and junior Rachael Paddock, who all earned perfect 200 prone scores. This demonstrates why Akron is considered a smallbore powerhouse.
The top air rifle shooter at the match was Morehead State freshman Victoria Koenig with a score of 595. But the next four slots on the leaderboard read all Akron, with Perkowski, Siek and Kirk all earning 593 scores, plus senior Rachel Engels in the mix with her 592. This showed the team score of 2368 to be above average for Team Akron.
Results: Akron vs. Morehead State on Feb. 8, 2025
You can see the full match scorecard at the NCAA rifle website.
Thus concludes the regular season matches for Akron. However, this is not the end of the season. On February 22, at 13 locations around the U.S., the 2025 NCAA qualifiers will be fired to determine who will be invited to the NCAA rifle championships. After the qualifiers are fired, the qualifier score will be added to the average of the top three matches of the season (no two at one place). The totals will be ranked and the top eight teams will receive an invite. With scores as tight as they are, it is still anybody’s game to earn one of the coveted invites. As for No. 11-ranked Akron, the Zips rifle team is definitely in the hunt.
For the first time in what seems like forever, Akron will be able to host its own NCAA qualifier. Because we seem to shoot quite well on our home range, this is a definite advantage for Akron. Next, Akron will host the young start-up team from Mount Aloysius College in Pennsylvania. With a rare late start, the competition will begin at 11:00 am ET on Saturday, February 22. Targets may be viewed live at shootersonline.com.
Learn more about the Akron and Morehead State rifle teams.
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