Feb. 20, 2007
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy rifle team was one of eight teams selected for the NCAA Championships being held at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks on March 9-10, the NCAA office announced on Tuesday. By qualifying, Navy will compete in the NCAA Championships for the 16th straight year. Navy is coming off a fourth-place finish at last year's event and has finished in the top six in 14 of the 15 years since 1992.
A total of 48 competitors were selected for the championships. The top eight teams in both the smallbore three-position and air rifle events were selected based on the average of the three highest regular-season aggregate scores with no more than one match at any given site. The average of the three highest scores was added to the aggregate scores from the designated qualifiers to determine the top eight teams.
Team Qualifiers (Smallbore Three-Position and Air Rifle)
- University of Alaska Fairbanks
- Jacksonville State University
- University of Kentucky
- Murray State University
- University of Nebraska
- Texas Christian University
- United States Military Academy
- United States Naval Academy
Individual and team competitions in smallbore three-position (60 shots) will be held Friday, March 9. Individual and team competitions in air rifle (60 shots) will be held Saturday, March 10. The overall team champion will be determined by combining the smallbore and air rifle team totals into one aggregate score for each institution.
In 2006, Alaska Fairbanks claimed its seventh NCAA national title. The Nanooks scored 2353 in air rifle and 2329 in smallbore for a first-place total of 4682. Nebraska Husker Kristina Fehlings shot a final score of 100 to finish with a 692 to win the 2006 air rifle national title. Nebraska finished second with a 4666 total followed by Army at 4650.
Four Navy shooters earned All-America status last year and all four will be competing at this year's championships. Seniors Sarah Bergman and Chris Schneider will be attempting to become four-time All-Americans. Navy's last four-time All-American was William Suggs in 1987-90.
The Mids will have one final tune-up before heading to the Great Frontier, competing in the MAC Championships on Feb. 25, in Annapolis, Md.
For more information about the 2007 National Collegiate Men's and Women's Rifle Championships, go to http://www.ncaasports.com/.
# GO NAVY #
