After finishing as runner-up for three straight years, Alaska finally found the top spot in 1994. Alaska's excellence picked up in the late '90s and the Nanooks have won eight of the last nine NCAA rifle titles since 1999. That stretch included a record-tying six straight from 1999-2004, matching the mark set by West Virginia in the late '80s and early '90s.

Any great team is made up of great individual performers and the Nanooks have had seven shooters win a total of 14 individual National Championships since 1988. In that same span, 42 Alaska competitors have earned a total of 163 All-America honors.

Amongst the many standout performers, four-time NCAA individual champion Matt Emmons is arguably the finest shooter in Alaska history. Emmons took home first-team NCAA All-America honors in both the smallbore and the air rifle all four years in Fairbanks. He also holds the team's individual records for both the small bore and air rifle. After leading the Nanooks to four straight team titles, Emmons went on to win a gold medal in the 50 meter prone event at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

While rifle has only been an NCAA sport since 1980, the Nanooks have had a rifle team since 1937, making it one of the universities oldest sports. Prior to competing through the NCAA, the Nanook women won six National Rifle Association national championships in the '60s. The team also produced 15 All-Americans from 1961-1970 including two-time national champion Stu Watkins and future head coach Randy Pitney, who later led the Nanooks to three NCAA titles including their first in 1994.

The Nanooks added to their championship lineage in 2007, winning the crown, but for the first time ever it was on their own turf. The Nanooks played host to the NCAA Rifle Championships March 8-10 at the E.F. Horton Rifle Range and the Patty Center in front of a record-crowd of almost 1,000 fans. Alaska's Governor Sarah Palin was on location in Fairbanks to help handout the hardware and crown the home-town hero Nanooks the 2007 NCAA Champs.

NCAA Team Championships
1994, 1999-2004, 2006, & 2007

NCAA Individual Championships
1989: Debra Sinclair (Smallbore)
1994: Cory Brunetti (Smallbore)
1995: Oleg Seleznev (Smallbore)
1999: Kelly Mansfield (Smallbore & Air Rifle)
2000: Kelly Mansfield (Air Rifle)
2001: Matt Emmons (Smallbore & Air Rifle)
2002: Matt Emmons (Smallbore)
2003: Matt Emmons (Smallbore) & Jamie Beyerle (Air Rifle)
2004: Matt Rawlings (Smallbore)
2005: Matt Rawlings (Smallbore)
2006: Jamie Beyerle (Smallbore)

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