Nevada Silver and Blue - University of Nevada, Reno

Pack Track
STEADY AIM
Nevada’s unsung sports champions have shot at greatness
By Brandon Stewart
It is the oldest sport at the
University of Nevada.
The rifle team has won a
national championship and
produced four All-Americans,
two of whom received
the honor multiple times. In
2002, the team finished
eighth in the nation. In 2003,
it finished fourth. In 2004,
the Nevada men’s and
women’s rifle team plans to
take it all.
Women’s rifle team members
from left to right: Emily
Fernandez, Dawn Tarbet,
Amie Stickel and Amanda
Dorrough
38 Nevada Silver & Blue • March/April 2004
“I believe that we could
win it all this year or next
year,” says Fred Harvey, the
men’s and women’s rifle
coach. “We’ve never been
stronger, every year we get
stronger. We have everything
necessary to win a national
championship here — truly
everything we need.”
And Nevada’s rifle team
has never been far from the
top.
Rifle has existed on the
Nevada campus continuously
since 1889 as part of
the academic curriculum,
intramural sports, and since
1995, as an NCAA intercollegiate
sport.
Intercollegiate competitive
shooting began in the early
1900s and became more
formalized in the 1920s and
1930s. The National Rifle
Association (NRA) sponsored
national collegiate
matches and recognized the
top 20 collegiate shooters as
All-Americans.
The Nevada rifle team
won the Intercollegiate
National Championship in
1956. Also that year, William
Rusk and Terry Katzer were
named All-Americans. In
the 48 years since then, three
other All-American honors
have been bestowed upon
Nevada shooters.
The sport is seemingly
simple, yet inconceivably
complex.
NCAA rifle competition
consists of two disciplines:
air rifle and small bore rifle.
In the air competition (4.5
millimeter), shooters take 40
shots in the standing
position at targets 10 meters
away (32.8 feet). Small bore
competition (.22 calliber)
consists of 120 shots from 50
feet in three positions: prone,
kneeling and standing.