Chandler AFA's Top Marksman at Winter Airgun Championships
12/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Rifle
Dec. 5, 2009
Tom Chandler, the Air Force Academy's top marksman, finished fifth overall and was the high collegiate air rifle shooter with a 591 at the 2009 Winter Airgun Championships on Friday, Dec. 4. AFA's Kurt Hakola finished fourth overall in the junior's competition with a 586. The three-day event continues through Sunday, Dec. 6, at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
On Thursday, the air rifle team shot its best team score, 2331, of the season against the University of Alaska-Fairbanks; however the Nanooks out-scored the Falcons by 20 points. In smallbore three-position, the Falcons lost 2325-2276. The Falcons lost the match, 4676-4607, at the Academy rifle range.
Against Alaska: In the pre-selected four-man teams, the Falcons' top shooter in the air rifle and smallbore matches was Chandler. Chandler shot a 588 in air rifle, just two points short of Alaska's top shooter, Patrik Sartz' 590 and in smallbore, Chandler shot a 579, which was three under Sartz' (582). Also in air rifle, AFA's Robert Vasquez fired a 583, which was his highest score this season against the Nanooks. Hakola shot a 576 and Kyle Phillips added a 584 for an air rifle team total of 2331. In the smallbore, Mike Seery fired a 569, Pat Everson had a 560 and Nick Krieger fired a 568 for a team score of 2276.
The rifle team has remained above the 4600 mark for the past five matches. The team will host TCU on Jan. 16 and 17 at the Academy rifle range.
