The Akron rifle team traveled to Lexington, Virginia, on November 1 for a four-team competition. When the smoke cleared at the end of the day, Akron stood alone at the top of the pile. In addition to Akron, the three other teams consisted of The University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB), the VMI mixed team (men and women) and the VMI women’s team. Team Akron (4671) finished a slim 34 points ahead of the UAB team (4637). In the world of rifle competitions with each press of the trigger being worth 10 points, a 34-point margin is kind of close.
Akron senior Natalia Siek pulled in the top-gun honor in smallbore with her 584. Right on her heels, UAB’s Holly Visconti (582) took second. Rounding out the top three for Akron were seniors Rachael Paddock and Joseph Hahn with like 578s.
Air rifle was sort of a free-for-all as all three teams battled for individual supremacy. Akron freshman hotshot Matthew Kimball pounded the center of the target landing him in the top-gun slot with a well-earned 595 out of 600. This is the second match in a row where Kimball led the squad, including last weekend where Kimball set the season-high mark of 597. One point behind was UAB’s Piper Wentland and her 594. As if the total team score was not close enough, UAB was only 10 points behind Akron in air rifle 2346 to 2356. Now that is razor thin!
Akron vs. VMI and UAB at VMI
You can see the full results of the match at the NCAA Rifle website.
On Saturday, November 8, Akron will travel south to Ohio State for another three-way match with the Buckeyes, Murray State and the University of Texas El Paso. Murray State and UTEP will begin at 9:00 a.m. with Ohio State and Akron starting at 2:30 p.m. that afternoon. Targets may be viewed at this link. Furthermore, Ohio State is excited to now have range live streaming: Ohio State Range Live Streaming. Selectable live video and targets can be viewed simultaneously via this link.
