March 9, 2007
FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- Junior Josh Albright claimed the NCAA individual title in dramatic fashion in the smallbore discipline on Friday at the NCAA rifle championships. Albright fired a 583 to place second in the composite round, then took over the top spot in the finals with a score of 96.5, outdistancing Nebraska's Kirsten Weiss by 1.1 points for the title.
"Josh had an amazing performance and really came through today," said Navy head coach Bill Kelley. "Our team performance was not good, and he was our last relay, so maybe that relieved some pressure off him, but he shot extremely well. Whatever the case, he had an outstanding performance and to be called an NCAA Champion is quite an accomplishment."
Albright sat in second after the composite round with a 583, but surged ahead on his ninth shot in the 10-shot final round. He then held onto the lead on his final shot to clinch the victory.
Albright becomes Navy's first rifle individual champion since Joe Johnson won the smallbore title in 1996. He is only Navy's second individual champion, joining Johnson.
"He was very clutch in the finals and didn't let anything rattle him," added Kelley. "It went up and down in the finals, but I knew when he took the lead on the ninth shot, that he was going to be in great shape. I can't say enough about his performance."
Albright's performance capped off an otherwise disappointing day for the squad. The Mids fired a 2253, the second-lowest smallbore output of the season for the Mids. The total places Navy in eighth place entering Saturday's air rifle portion the Championship.
The championship is set up with four relays, with one shooter from each team shooting at a time. Senior Sarah Bergman started the Mids off in relay one with a 569. Sophomore Alex Karacsonyi competed in relay two for Navy, accumulating a 536. Senior Chris Schneider tallied a 565 in relay three, before Albright took his turn, posting his 583 and subsequent finals score, which does not count towards team scoring.
"Other than Josh, we had a very disappointing day," said Kelley. "Not really sure what happened, but some shooters just did not have it today. We entered the tournament in eighth and we definitely did not improve on it. We need to put this day behind us and focus on tomorrow."
Alaska-Fairbanks leads a tight pack with a 2308 score. Army is second at 2307 and Kentucky is third with a 2299.
The Mids found themselves in a similar situation in last year's NCAA Championships, rallying from a sixth-place showing after day one to finish fourth at last year's NCAA Championships.
Action will conclude on Saturday with the air rifle discipline.
NAVY INDIVIDUAL SCORES:-- Josh Albright (583; 96.5) - NCAA Champion-- Sarah Bergman (569)-- Chris Schneider (565)-- Alex Karacsonyi (536)
TEAM SCORES:1. Alaska-Fairbanks 23082. Army 23073. Kentucky 22994. Texas Christian 22935. Jacksonville 22916. Nebraska 22537. Murray State 22628. Navy 2253
# GO NAVY #
