Akron Rifle Leads After First Weekend of Zippy Open
With one more weekend of competition left in the tournament, the Zips take the lead in air rifle and smallbore.
The Akron rifle team in action during the first weekend of the Zippy Open Rifle Tournament. (Image via Akron Zips)
October 31, 2018
After the first weekend of the sixth annual Zippy Open Rifle Tournament, the Akron rifle team has taken the lead in both air rifle and smallbore.
According to GoZips.com, the first round of competition occurred on Oct. 27-28 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the final weekend of competition will happen on Nov. 10-11, also from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
For air rifle, junior Kera Kaufman (Delmon, S.D.) took the lead by scoring 590 out of the possible total 600.
Head coach Newt Engle told GoZips.com that this type of performance was what he was looking for before the team’s next match against Morehead and Nebraska.
“I was glad to see this performance by Kaufman because she has been creeping up on greatness and now that she is over the 590 hump, I expect she will never look back,” Engle said.
The Zips success continued on the smallbore range, where junior Anthony Jackson (Seven Valleys, Pa.) scored a season-high of 579 and junior Cierra Terrizzi (Dallastown, Pa.) beat her personal best with 581 out of the possible 600.
“Both Terrizzi and Jackson have been working overtime on the ranges to improve their scores to benefit the team,” Engle said. “Yet again, this high level of performance is coming at a critical time with the big weekend matches coming up next weekend.”
While the last weekend of the Zippy Open is still over a week away, the Akron rifle team is hosting Morehead and Nebraska on Nov. 3-4.
For the final weekend of the Zippy Open Rifle Tournament, the remaining members of the Akron rifle team will face almost 130 competitors, according to GoZips.com.
Jim Skala • Jun 10, 2021 at 1:07 PM
I find it interesting how much scores have improved since I was shooting on the U of A rifle team (1966 – 1969) We shot small bore only on the Goodyear range on E. Market, we had only 8 points on that range so the team was limited to 8 members, and we all had to procure our own equipment. I never had a leather shooting jacket – I could not afford one. We shot prone, kneeling and offhand. A 275 (out of 300 possible) was considered to be a fairly good score. My best ever score in a match was 294 (I guess that would be 588 the way you do things now). The second season, after 10 matches, Jack Jones and I were at the top, and our total score difference for all 10 matches was two points – Jack was on top.
I had to shoot my way on to the team — Sgt. Tubbe, the coach, said if I could beat a 250 (3 positions) at the range, I would be on the team — I was using a Remington 513T rifle that I had purchased in 1960 for $50 to use in my High School team (CCHS, Canton) — that was the lowest score I ever shot, and it was still enough to get me on the team. The first match (Kent State) I used that rifle and shot a 265. Then I got a Winchester 52B – my favorite rifle of all time, and my scores improved. It was a lot of fun. I finished BSEE in 1970, married a woman who hated guns, and quit shooting.