Akron Rifle Upsets Ohio State and Nebraska

Saturday, October 5

FORT WAYNE, IND.

TBA

University of Akron

X-COUNT RANGE COMPETITION

October 08 | Rifle

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FORT WAYNE, Indiana - The No. 10 University of Akron rifle team opened its regular season with a dual against No. 12 Ohio State and No. 9 Nebraska on Saturday at the X-Count range in Fort Wayne Indiana. The Zips were able to top both schools, finishing with a score of 4651. Nebraska also finished with 4651, and Ohio State finished with 4635.

With Akron and Nebraska having a tied "raw" score, the tiebreaker then falls to how many center shots each team had, and Akron had a slim advantage by just one shot (254-253), thus giving Akron the win.

At the conclusion of smallbore competition, junior Antonio Gross (Webster, N.Y.) held the lead with a score of 583. Junior Wyatt Openshaw (Parkton, Md.) was very close behind in second, with a score of 582.

Also finishing in the top 10 were sophomore Jeanne Haverhill (Coopersburg, Pa.) who shot a 577, junior Rebecca Spencer (Avella, Pa.), and senior Kera Kaufman (Delmont, S.D.) who both shot a 576.

"In the smallbore division we fired quite well at slightly above our average. At this match that was plenty good enough to give us the smallbore division win. The really rewarding thing is most all the team was satisfied with the scores, but could definitely see some room to rather easily move the score up a few points" said head coach Newt Engle.

Haverhill and Openshaw led the way for the Zips in air rifle, both finishing with a score of 587, good enough for a seventh-place finish in that portion of the competition.

"Even though we shot well, or air rifle score was a little flat being slightly below our average. Many of our power players didn't quite post the numbers they are easily able to reach. The encouraging thing is that even with the scores we posted, we squeaked out a win and felt unfulfilled. The whole team knows we can pick up a bunch of points with the air rifles. I am wagering this will be quite evident in the upcoming matches.

Three of our rising stars was evident by the outstanding scores of Sophomores Jeanne Haverhill and Andre Gross as well as Junior Wyatt Openshaw. The depth of this team and the talented athletes will carry us far this season as well as in the future. Definitely a team on the move" said head coach Newt Engle.

Up next, Akron travels to Lexington, Va., to face Virginia Military Institute and NC State on Saturday, Oct. 12.