This year’s Alaska Fairbanks rifle squad may have been young but the result of the teamwork was old and familiar. The defending national champion Nanooks outshot Army to capture the 2008 National Collegiate Rifle Championships March 15 in West Point, New York.

Alaska Fairbanks earned its third straight national team title and 10th overall rifle championship with a 4,662-4,652 victory over host Army. Texas Christian was third in the team competition with a score of 4,627. Nebraska and Kentucky rounded out the top five team finishers with composites of 4,625 and 4,623, respectively.

“It’s so cool to see it pay off for the team, as hard as they have worked all year,” said Dan Jordan, Alaska Fairbanks head coach and 2008 national rifle coach of the year. “To have such a young team, with three sophomores and two freshmen, do what they did is phenomenal. It’s got to be the youngest team to have ever won a championship.”

Army, the 2005 national champion and 2007 national runner-up to Alaska Fairbanks, clung to a six-point lead after a strong showing in smallbore on the first day of competition. The Black Knights swept the top three positions, giving Army its first NCAA individual champion in Chris Abalo. The program’s most decorated shooter, the senior Abalo edged teammates Brian Kern and Stephen Scherer, who finished second and third, respectively. In May, both Abalo and Kern will compete in smallbore for spots on the U.S. Olympic team. Scherer has already qualified for the team in air rifle.

Alaska Fairbanks erased Army’s lead in the air rifle portion of the competition, placing three shooters in the final round of eight, including sophomore Patrik Sartz, who won the individual national title in air rifle over Navy’s Josh Albright, 696.4 to 693.9. Christofer Olofssonclinched the win for Alaska Fairbanks and a third-place finish by firing 592 in the final round to end with a score of 693.8. Nanooks freshman Cody Rutter was sixth at 688.3.

Team results

1. Alas. Fairbanks, 4,662 (smallbore 2,312 -- Cody Rutter 581, William Galligan 573, Christofer Olofsson 580, Patrik Sartz 578; air rifle 2,350 -- Rutter 586, Taylor Beard 578, Sartz 594, Olofsson 592); 2. Army, 4,652 (smallbore 2,318 -- David Amiot 566, Chris Abalo 588, Brian Kern 582, Stephen Scherer 582; air rifle 2,334 -- Amiot 579, Abalo 585, Kern 583, Scherer 587); 3. TCU, 4,627 (smallbore 2,312 -- Erin Lorenzen 579, Emily Paper 581, Simone Riford 574, Lauren Sullivan 578; air rifle 2,315 -- Lorenzen 582, Paper 568, Riford 586, Sullivan 579); 4. Nebraska, 4,625 (smallbore 2,308 -- Christine Costello 578, Elisha LaFond 573, Kirsten Weiss 584, Amanda Jeffries 573; air rifle 2,317 -- LaFond 578, Costello 582, Ryann McGough 575, Jeffries 582); 5. Kentucky, 4,623 (smallbore 2,298 -- Tom Csenge 572, Jennifer Pason 575, Andrew Roland 571, Ashley Jackson 580; air rifle 2,325 -- Ray Geyer 577, Pason 585, Csenge 581, Jackson 582); 6. West Virginia, 4,616 (smallbore 2,305 -- Kyle Smith 578, Lafe Kunkel 582, Tom Santelli 567, Brandi Eskew 578; air rifle 2,311 -- Santelli 577, Andy Lamson 574, Kunkel 575, Eskew 585); 7. Navy, 4,610 (smallbore 2,268 -- Chris Burleson 566, Alison Lankes 555, Monica Amagna 570, Joshua Albright 577; air rifle 2,342 -- Burleson 576, Amagna 583, Albright 591, Lisa Kunzelman 592); 8. Nevada, 4,591 (smallbore 2,257 -- Lee Lemenager 554, Jessica Klatt 564, Meghann Morrill 572, Andrew Hickey 567; air rifle 2,334 -- Klatt 576, Sarah Smith 587, Morrill 585, Hickey 586).

Individual results

Smallbore

1. Chris Abalo, Army, 687.6; 2. Brian Kern, Army, 681.6; 3. Stephen Scherer, Army, 680.6; 4. Lafe Kunkel, West Virginia, 676.6; 5. Emily Paper, TCU, 675.7; 6. Kirsten Weiss, Nebraska, 674.9; 7. Andy Lamson, West Virginia, 674.1; 8. Cody Rutter, Alas. Fairbanks, 673.6.

Air rifle

1. Patrick Sartz, Alas. Fairbanks, 696.4; 2. Joshua Albright, Navy, 693.9; 3. Christofer Olofsson, Alas. Fairbanks, 693.8; 4. Lisa Kunzelman, Navy, 693.3; 5. Stephen Scherer, Army, 690.2; 6. Cody Rutter, Alas. Fairbanks, 688.3; 7. Sarah Smith, Navy, 686.5; 8. Andrew Hickey, Navy, 686.4.