The 10th-rated University of Akron rifle team battled a pair of ranked opponents this past weekend as the Zips hosted No. 3 Kentucky and No. 7 Murray State at the Robert A. Pinn Shooting Range.
Akron began the campaign registering a 4688-4672 victory over No. 7 Murray State on Friday, Oct. 7, before again battling the Racers and No. 3 Kentucky, the defending 2022 NCAA Champions, on Saturday, Oct. 8.
On day one, Akron pressed hard, and at the end of the match emerged victorious edging the Racers. In smallbore, freshman Andrew Duross (Marlborough, Mass.) impressed the crowd with his amazing 590 out of the possible 600. Additionally, Duross broke the school smallbore standing record with a 198-13x (out of a possible 200 score) in arguably the most difficult position to achieve perfection. Right on Duross's heals was junior Gavin Perkowski (Bolivar, Ohio) with a 586 scorecard. In air rifle, fifth-year senior Andre Gross (Webster, N.Y.) led the pack posting a 594, while, close behind again was Perkowski with a 592.
"What impresses me the most is the fact this team is starting the season with scores slightly above where we finished the season last year," Akron heac coachNewt Engle commented. "Even with a nice win and some impressive scores I can sense the team knowing they have quite a lot more to give."
On day two, Kentucky joined the mix to make the day a tri-meet event at Akron as the Zips posted a team score of 4681. However, this was not enough as both Murray State and Kentucky pulled just inches ahead of Akron.
"We met after the match and discussed how we all know both Murray and UK left the door wide open for Akron to pull ahead, but Saturday was not the day for Akron to take advantage," said Engle.
Duross captured the Akron top-gun award for both smallbore (582) and air rifle (595). Also impressive was Perkowski who continued to trail Duross by mere fractions of an inch. Perkowski posted very nice scores of 581 in smallbore and 592 in air rifle.
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Akron returns to action at Morehead State in an 8 am match on Saturday, Oct. 15
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