After the somewhat long Christmas break, the Akron Zips rifle team returned to the field of competition by traveling to No. 3 West Virginia for the first match of the second half of the season on January 17. At the end of the snowy day, the Mountaineers proved they were too hot to handle finishing ahead of the Zips, 4736–4683.
Finishing in the overall third slot, as well as placing ahead of several Olympians, Akron senior Rachael Paddock posted a very respectable 588 out of a possible 600 with her smallbore rifle. As the numbers get bigger, each and every point earned becomes a real challenge. Paddock is clearly up to the challenge, as she has been steadily climbing her way toward the top of the smallbore leaderboard for the Zips. Supported by two of her teammates with scores in the 580s, junior Kaleb Santiso fired his career-high score, while freshman Matthew Kimball rounded out the top three for the Zips.
Paddock, who was having herself quite a day, also led the squad in air rifle by posting a very nice 593, which is a new career high in the event. Two more Zips entered the elite 590s, with seniors Natalia Siek (592) and Joseph Hahn (590) rounding out the top three. I was very pleased to see the team open this half of the season with a respectable team air score.
The top shooter for WVU and the match was Griffin Lake with an individual aggregate score of 1188-90X.
Akron vs. WVU Scorecard
See the full results of the match at the NCAA rifle website.
As if facing off against No. 3 West Virginia was not enough, on January 31 the Akron squad will travel to Lexington, Kentucky, to do battle with the No. 1-ranked Kentucky Wildcats. This past weekend, the Wildcats tied the NCAA team record with a score of 4759. Let’s see what happens at 9:00 a.m. when Akron takes the line on the UK home range. Targets may be viewed at megalink.no.
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