Saturday, March 9
Morgantown, WV
6:00 AM MT
Air Force Academy
at
NCAA AR Championships
Rifle team national air rifle champs, third in the country
Rifle team wins Air Rifle national title
3/9/2019 2:30:00 PM | Rifle
Air Force finishes third in the country
U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo. – In air rifle, the Air Force rifle team won the air rifle national title on the way to the Falcons finishing third in the country after two days of the NCAA Men's and Women's Rifle Championships held at West Virginia University in Morgantown, March 8-9.
On Friday, following the smallbore team championships, Air Force was in fifth place with a 2319. On Saturday, the Falcons came back to improve on the final team score. In air rifle, Air Force and TCU were tied with a 2368, but the Falcons out shot TCU by 10 center shots, which broke the tie, and the Falcons won the air rifle title.
After two days, Air Force moved up to third in the country with a combined team score of 4687. TCU are the national champions with a 4699, WVU is the runner-up with a 4692. Murray State took fourth place with a final score of 4665. Finishing fifth through eighth place are: Kentucky, 4665, Army West Point, 4646, Navy, 4642, and Alaska 4640, respectively.
In air rifle, Air Force had two shooters, senior Spencer Cap with a 592 and freshman Peter Fiori with a 596, advance into the air rifle top-eight finals round. In his first NCAA Championship final, Fiori finished seventh with a 141.5. Cap finished in sixth place with a finals score of 161.6. TCU won the top two spots followed by a shooter from Georgia Southern in the No. 3 position.
"We had to strap in and fight to the final shots," said head coach Launi Meili. "We ended up tying TCU in the air rifle score, but then outshot them by 10 center shots to win the air rifle team title. The scores were so close, absolutely every shot mattered and we had to perform when it counted."
Shooting air rifle, senior Anna Weilbacher scored a 589, freshman Casper Schadler followed with a 590. Fiori was the Falcons' top shooter with a 596. Cap finished with a 592 and landed on the top-10 individual standings along with Fiori. Junior Logan Ogden finished the day with a 590.
The smallbore championships were shot on day one. Ogden was the team's top scorer with a 584. Cap and Fiori both finished with a 579, while Schadler had a 577 and Weilbacher scored a 569.
In the individual standings, Fiori is ranked fourth with an 1175, Ogden is seated fifth with an 1174, and Cap is ranked 10th with an 1171. Weilbacher and Schadler finished with an 1158 and 1167, respectively.
The rifle team now has the President's Trophy, Patriot Rifle Conference trophy and two national trophies to add to the list of season accomplishments. It was the first time-ever that Air Force has won a national title for either air rifle or the smallbore. The third place team ranking is the Falcons highest national team ranking since 1996 (second).
2019 NCAA Men's & Women's Rifle Championships Standings -- March 8-9
On Friday, following the smallbore team championships, Air Force was in fifth place with a 2319. On Saturday, the Falcons came back to improve on the final team score. In air rifle, Air Force and TCU were tied with a 2368, but the Falcons out shot TCU by 10 center shots, which broke the tie, and the Falcons won the air rifle title.
After two days, Air Force moved up to third in the country with a combined team score of 4687. TCU are the national champions with a 4699, WVU is the runner-up with a 4692. Murray State took fourth place with a final score of 4665. Finishing fifth through eighth place are: Kentucky, 4665, Army West Point, 4646, Navy, 4642, and Alaska 4640, respectively.
In air rifle, Air Force had two shooters, senior Spencer Cap with a 592 and freshman Peter Fiori with a 596, advance into the air rifle top-eight finals round. In his first NCAA Championship final, Fiori finished seventh with a 141.5. Cap finished in sixth place with a finals score of 161.6. TCU won the top two spots followed by a shooter from Georgia Southern in the No. 3 position.
"We had to strap in and fight to the final shots," said head coach Launi Meili. "We ended up tying TCU in the air rifle score, but then outshot them by 10 center shots to win the air rifle team title. The scores were so close, absolutely every shot mattered and we had to perform when it counted."
Shooting air rifle, senior Anna Weilbacher scored a 589, freshman Casper Schadler followed with a 590. Fiori was the Falcons' top shooter with a 596. Cap finished with a 592 and landed on the top-10 individual standings along with Fiori. Junior Logan Ogden finished the day with a 590.
The smallbore championships were shot on day one. Ogden was the team's top scorer with a 584. Cap and Fiori both finished with a 579, while Schadler had a 577 and Weilbacher scored a 569.
In the individual standings, Fiori is ranked fourth with an 1175, Ogden is seated fifth with an 1174, and Cap is ranked 10th with an 1171. Weilbacher and Schadler finished with an 1158 and 1167, respectively.
The rifle team now has the President's Trophy, Patriot Rifle Conference trophy and two national trophies to add to the list of season accomplishments. It was the first time-ever that Air Force has won a national title for either air rifle or the smallbore. The third place team ranking is the Falcons highest national team ranking since 1996 (second).
2019 NCAA Men's & Women's Rifle Championships Standings -- March 8-9
| Rank | Team | SB | AR | Agg |
| 1 | TCU | 2331 | 2368 | 4699 |
| 2 | West Virginia | 2331 | 2361 | 4692 |
| 3 | Air Force | 2319 | 2368 | 4687 |
| 4 | Murray St. | 2320 | 2357 | 4677 |
| 5 | Kentucky | 2322 | 2343 | 4665 |
| 6 | Army | 2295 | 2351 | 4646 |
| 7 | Navy | 2298 | 2344 | 4642 |
| 8 | Alaska Fairbanks | 2287 | 2353 | 4640 |
Players Mentioned
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