CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel rifle team will be back in action this week, opening the 2018 portion of the schedule with one of their toughest matches to date as the Bulldogs host the fifth-ranked Nanooks of Alaska Fairbanks on Wednesday, Jan. 10. Action will get underway at 3 p.m. inside the Inouye Marksmanship Center.

"We're excited to be back in the range this week after a very long break," said head coach William Smith. "Getting to go up against a strong program like Alaska Fairbanks without much time being back on campus will be a challenge, but it is a great way to prepare for the challenges the rest of this semester. We wrapped up the fall on a high note and we are hoping to kick off the spring in similar fashion."

The Nanooks are currently undefeated on the year, having defeated Ohio State and the Air Force Academy twice as well as UTEP, Nevada and Jacksonville State. Fairbanks opened the 2018 portion of their schedule on Monday, Jan. 8 with a match at 14^th-ranked Jacksonville State. The Nanooks will also travel to the Palmyra Invite in Palmyra, Pennsylvania, before traveling back to Fairbanks where they will host Mississippi, top-ranked West Virginia and Nevada later this month.

Alaska Fairbanks has been led this season by senior Sagen Maddalena, who boasted the top aggregate score for the team in four matches, including a pair of 1189s. The highly decorated shooter – including eight all-american accolades – also boasts a 599 and a pair of 598s in air rifle this season.

The Bulldogs last competed against outside competition on Saturday, Nov. 11 against then 11^th-ranked N.C. State and 22^nd-ranked Georgia Southern as well as Clemson's club team. The Citadel defeated the Eagles and Tigers, but fell to the Wolf Pack despite a strong performance.

Junior Allison Auten posted season-bests in both smallbore and total aggregate score to lead the co-ed team. Auten shot 566 in smallbore, improving her season best by two points over her previous best score from two weeks ago. When combined with her 587 in air rifle score, which was the second-best score posted in the discipline in the match, she ended the day sixth overall with an aggregate score of 1153.

Close behind Auten was freshman Max Brabston with an 1152. Brabston ended the day seventh overall as he shot 573 in smallbore and 579 in air rifle.

Colton Poole and Alexander McAlear were also locked in a close battle during the match with Poole finishing the day with an 1131 (556 smallbore, 575 air rifle) compared to McAlear's 1130 (565 smallbore, 565 air rifle).

Morgan Long and Leah Wallace rounded out the scoring for the team. Long shot an 1118 (545 smallbore, 573 air rifle) while Fenwrick-Wallace shot a 1074 (504 smallbore, 570 air rifle).

For the women's team, Shay Littlejohn posted her season-best aggregate score and air rifle scores to finish second on the squad. Littlejohn finished with an aggregate score of 1077 made up of a 524 smallbore and 553 air rifle.

Carli Cline was the top shooter for the women's team with a 1095 aggregate score (543 smallbore, 552 air rifle) while Lauren Pringle was third on the squad with a 1074 (516 smallbore, 558 air rifle). Tierra Price and Maia Farina rounded out the scoring for the Bulldog women with a 1020 aggregate score (494 smallbore, 526 air rifle) and a 910 (420 smallbore, 490 air rifle) respectively.

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The Bulldogs will next travel to Statesboro, Georgia, where they will take on Georgia Southern and Wofford in a SoCon tri-match on Saturday, Jan. 20. The match in Statesboro will mark the third time this season the Bulldogs will have faced the Eagles with each side claiming one match. It will also mark the second meeting between the 'Dogs and the Terriers of Wofford.

The Citadel will then return home for a tri-match against VMI and eighth-ranked Air Force on Saturday, Jan. 27.


The Citadel will host the 2018 SoCon Rifle Championships March 3-4, 2018 inside the Inouye Marksmanship Center as well as the 2018 NCAA Rifle Championships March 8-10, 2018 inside McAlister Field House. The NCAA rifle championships will mark the third national championship competition hosted at The Citadel and first since Johnson Hagood Stadium was the site of the 1983 and 1984 Division I-AA football national championship games.

For more information on The Citadel rifle team, follow @CitadelOlympic on Twitter or visit CitadelSports.com.