Smalkin to compete in national pistol tournament
Junior Fred Smalkin of Hunt Valley, Md. will travel to Ft. Benning, Ga. to compete in the annual National Rifle Association Collegiate Shooting Division tournament Friday. Smalkin will be competing in the .22-caliber target pistol division.
Smalkin fared well in last month's sectional competition at the Naval Academy qualifying for the national tournament.
"He was the 30th qualifier of 30 people," coach Paul Benneche said. "He's shooting against some people with much higher scores, including shooters from the military academies, who are typically the best shooters. It's like the No. 64 or 65 team in basketball. You don't expect them to win, but you never know what might happen."
Under Benneche's guidance, Smalkin is in just his first year of competition, having joined Virginia's club shooting team. The club encompasses rifle, pistol and shotgun disciplines and, having existed for more than 50 years, is one of the school's oldest club sports programs.
"I grew up around guns," Smalkin said. "I grew up shooting in the backyard and just got into competition this year."
Ski and snowboard teams finish season
As the Virginia alpine skiers geared up for the 2003 season, the team was in danger of a decrease in team membership after a previous season of warm temperatures and poor snow conditions. Only 70 students registered this season, compared to 130 in 2002.
Captains Kate Leonard and Christian Ryan expressed concern about the racing status of both teams. The women's team graduated five of its top racers, one of whom was also a top snowboarder. The men's team also suffered from a loss of several top racers. But the season looked up with the promise of new underclass members and one of the best winters that Virginia has seen in years.
Despite the captains' worries, all teams concluded their season well, the women's snowboarding team finishing second and the male snowboarders eighth in the mid-Atlantic division of the United States Collegiate Skiing Association. The men's alpine team finished sixth place overall. The women tied for fourth with Virginia Tech. The women lost the tiebreaker to rival Tech -- a loss that cost them a ticket to the regional competition. Though Virginia did not send its entire complement of racers, it did send Leonard, its top female racer, who ended her collegiate skiing career with a an 11th and 13th place finishes in the slalom and giant slalom events.
Water polo wins weekend tournament
The Virginia women's water polo team competed in a home tournament this weekend to start its collegiate water polo season.The tournament included the southern division of the Mid-Atlantic Region. On Saturday, Virginia started off the day beating James Madison and finished with a win over Richmond, though the victories sandwiched a tough loss against Maryland (11-7).On Sunday, Virginia got another shot at Maryland and took the win, 13-5. Grad student Erin Girard led the team with seven goals en route to the win.Junior goalie Heidi Garrabrant came up with numerous saves to hold the Terps scoreless at halftime. The Cavaliers emerged champions at the tournament's end, winning three of four games with the help of a Maryland loss to JMU.
Virginia travels to the University of Pennsylvania in two weeks to compete against the northern division of the Mid-Atlantic region. The team will attempt to secure the No. 1 seed to enter the championship tournament in April.
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