The University of Akron Athletics
Midshipmen Marginally Edge Zips at MAC Championships
March 09 | Rifle
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy Midshipmen used a 14 point advantage to claim the Mid Atlantic Conference Championship, defeating the Zips, 4558-4544 at the Virginia Military Institute firing range Saturday afternoon. Despite the loss, the Zips posted several strong performances led by none other than freshman Jenna Compton.
In the Smallbore Division, Akron notched a team score of 2249 to Navy's 2254 as Compton narrowly missed top gun honors by just one point, firing a 570 to settle in second. Midshipman Chris Burleson would earn the prestige with a score of 571. Fellow freshman Zachary Szabo earned a third place finish, shooting 567 as Sarah Benjamin and Ryan Stein made it a class affair with both freshmen firing like 566's. (Benjamin finished ahead of Stein, following the tie breaker.)
The Air Rifle contest saw Compton pick up where she left off by pacing the field as she earned top gun honors, firing a score of 588 to nab the top slot. Sophomore Brittany Jones trailed in fourth with 575, after winning the tie breaker with Burleson of Navy. Sophomore Rebecca Gerevics would achieve a similar result, ending the contest in sixth place with 568 points after besting both Jennifer Hawk from Penn State and Allison Lankes of Navy in a three-way tie-breaker. Despite placing three shooters in the top-ten, Navy topped the Zips with four shooters, tallying a group total of 2304 over Akron's 2295.
"Every year we get just a little bit closer to finishing ahead of Navy," states head coach Newt Engle adding, "Navy shot well and deserves the crown, but they definitely know we are after them."
With the second place finish, the Akron team wraps up a successful 2008-09 campaign which included a 5-4 mark overall in addition to the Zips capturing their fifth-straight WIRC Championship. Furthermore, freshman hotshot Jenna Compton became the first Akron shooter in 30 years to earn a bid to the National Championships and will represent the Zips at the NCAA's held at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, March 13-14.
