For the Akron rifle team, the season home opener on Sunday, October 12, concluded with No. 10-ranked Memphis finishing ahead of the Zips, 4732 to 4686. However, Akron did not go down without a fight, as evidenced by nine of the 12-person squad posting either season or career personal-best scores.
Also worth noting is the effort put out by Memphis, which allowed the rifle team to obliterate their previous program record score by a full nine points. Well done, Memphis.
The familiar name of senior Natalia Siek appeared as the leader of the Akron squad in the smallbore rifle division. She posted an impressive 588 out of the possible 600 points. Freshman hotshot Matthew Kimball was also in the mix with a score of 586, a career record. Rounding out the top four smallbore shooters for Akron were senior Joseph Hahn (581) and junior Logan McClimans (580). All in all, a very respectable showing for Akron rifle in the match against the Tigers.
Flip flopping for air rifle, Hahn fired a career-high 594. Right on his heels was Siek with 592. Both go above and beyond being good teammates and it is wonderful to see them rewarded for their efforts. Arriving early and staying late just may pay off every now and then. The remaining team members now know what they need to do to join Siek and Hahn at the top of the leaderboard.
The top individual aggregate score at the match was 1185-86X from Memphis shooter Emmet Bodrogi.
Memphis vs. Akron Scorecard
You can see the full match scorecard at ncaarifle.org.
On Saturday, October 24, the Akron rifle team will travel to a club range in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to face off against Morehead State. The excitement is slated to begin at 9:00 a.m., and you can see the live results here.
