Rifle Defeats Akron 4690-4669 to Close Fall Season, 5-1

Saturday, November 11

Akron, OH

8:00 AM

Army West Point

4690

4669

Akron

Rifle Defeats Akron 4690-4669 to Close Fall Season, 5-1

November 12, 2023 | Rifle

AKRON, Ohio – The Army West Point Rifle Team turned in a strong performance to close out its fall season 2-0 in conference and 5-1 overall following a 4690-4669 decision over host Akron in a Great America Rifle match on Veterans Day at the Robert A. Pinn Shooting Range.

Senior Anusha Pakkam lit up the leader board for the second straight week breaking her own school record by a point with an 1184 aggregate score claiming first place honors in smallbore (588) and air (596), tying her career marks in both.

The Black Knights outpointed the Zips 2325-2310 in smallbore and edged them 2365-2359 in air rifle posting a 4690 aggregate, just shy of their season high 4693 set last week against Air Force.

Army had four shooters place in the top seven in smallbore led by Pakkam's 588 winning mark, nipping Akron's Natalia Siek by two points for that honor. Briggs Moore tied for fourth place with a 581 with Kyle Kutz and Chris Jennings right behind firing 578s to round out that contingent. Next were freshman Ashton Arlington, 10th behind a season high 574, and Claudia Sigel (573).

In air rifle, Pakkam notched 51 center shots to win the tie breaker and write her name on the leader board after edging Zips Gavin Perkowski, who had 45 centers, for that honor as both tied with a 596.
Though Akron placed four shooters among the top five, Army edged the Zips by six points to complete the sweep following a 2365-2359 decision.

Kutz fired Army's next highest score, a 591, just shy of his season high, to place sixth with Moore posting a personal best 589, breaking his former mark by three points, tying for ninth place with Jennings. Sigel was just a point behind with a 588 with Ashton O'Connell rounding out Army's top shoots with a 585.

In the aggregate scoring, Pakkam bested Perkowski on the leader board 1184-1177 with Moore finishing fifth behind a personal best 1170 followed by Kutz' 1169. Jennings posted an 1167 in tying for sixth as Army placed four among the top seven.

"I am so proud of how the team did today," noted second-year coach Leighton Dempster. "We were able to come off of a three-day training week and travel to a new range and continue the momentum we built last weekend. It's great to be in the 4690's consistently and to see the cadets push themselves for higher scores. "In our break before the spring season, we are really going to push our standard of excellence and nail down some of the sloppiness keeping us from breaking 4700. I feel great about how the team is progressing, and I can't wait for the spring season!"

NEXT UP
Closing out the fall campaign 4-1, Army will take a break for the holidays returning to action in the new year against conference foe Kentucky in a home match at Tronsure Marksmanship Center on Jan. 13.