The No. 12 NC State rifle team recorded a season-high score of 4,656 to defeat No. 10 Akron and earn a Great America Rifle Conference victory Saturday in Reynolds Coliseum.
The Wolfpack (5-4, 2-2 GARC) got off to a hot start in the smallbore portion of the competition, which uses rifles with calibers of .32 inches or smaller. NC State racked up 2,313 points in the smallbore competition, giving it a 16-point cushion over the Zips (2-2, 1-2 GARC) heading into the air rifle competition.
“It was great because it gave us the GARC win and it was the highest score of the season,” head coach Keith Miller told NC State Athletics. “It will help with our ranking. Lastly, there were a lot of strong individual performances, so we’re happy overall and always nice to win at home.”
Sophomore Kendra Jacobs led the Wolfpack in smallbore after firing a personal-best score of 585 to lead the entire field. Graduate student Lauren Phillips kept the Wolfpack’s hot streak going with a score of 578. Sophomore Zach Eisenberg from rounded out the Wolfpack’s top three performers with a smallbore score of 576.
Phillips continued to perform well as the competition transitioned into air rifle, as she fired a match-high score of 590 to increase the Wolfpack’s lead. Eisenberg was right behind her and ended up one point short of his career-high at 589. Junior Will Marciniak recorded his personal best with a score of 586 for the Wolfpack.
In addition to the lights-out scores from the Pack’s top three, senior Derya Pekari, sophomore Claire Zanti and Kendra Jacobs each performed well, all with scores over 580 to help the Wolfpack reach a team air rifle score of 2,343 and tally a season-high total of 4,656.
“It’s always good to get a win against a conference opponent,” Miller said. “We knew it would be a very close match and it was because Akron is shooting really well. They shot a school record last week.”
The win against Akron adds to the NC State’s already impressive resume. The Wolfpack has already defeated No. 20 North Georgia, No. 6 Nebraska and No. 11 Memphis and has looked more impressive as the season has progressed.
After finishing the 2016-2017 season fourth in conference and ninth in the country, the Wolfpack looks to build on the momentum of beating good teams early in the season as it hopes to make a deeper run in the postseason.
Derya Pekari, a fourth-year studying communication, concentrates on the target in front of her in Reynolds Coliseum on Saturday. The Wolfpack went up against the Akron Zips on Saturday, winning with an aggregate score of 4656 to 4642.
