The aurora borealis over the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. Photo courtesy of UAF

A Little Background on UAF
Founded in 1917, the University of Alaska is the northernmost land grant institution in the United States. Included in UAF's course catalog is Arctic Skills (in which it is required that students have "adequate clothing to operate 1-6 hours in an Arctic environment"), Eskimo (the study of Yup'ik Eskimo language), and Fire Science (which covers the history and philosophy of fire prevention). The university also has intercollegiate hockey and rifle teams-sorry, no football.

According to the LonelyPlanet World Guide (www.lonelyplanet.com), Fairbanks has "particularly pleasant weather," reaching as high as 90OF between the months of June and August. Because of Fairbanks location near the Arctic Circle, there are periods of 24-hour daylight during the summer. In the winter, temperatures can get to -50OF or lower.

UAF first sponsored a rifle team in 1937-over 20 years before Alaska was recognized as a state. Keeping this in historical perspective, most of the people living in the area were involved in gold mining, and given the harsh conditions, the only reliable way in and out of Fairbanks was the railroad (the Alaska Marine Highway System didn't begin operating year-round until 1963).

In the 1960s, the UAF Women's Rifle Team was a dominant force in women's shooting, winning the NRA National Collegiate Women's Championship from 1961 through 1967. Since 1960, of the 43 UAF team members who have won All American honors, 18 have been women.


1961 National Collegiate Women's Rifle Champions: (L-R) Diane Sherrif, Linda Dahl, Kathleen Powers, Judith Pattinson. Photo courtesy of UAF

In April 1968, UAF was the subject of an American Rifleman article. The article stated, "while other universities emphasize football or basketball, the University of Alaska takes pride in a rifle team that has consistently bagged trophies. Its dormitories include gun rooms where students can keep their firearms handy for hunting, a major pastime." The article also mentioned that excellent hunting was within walking distance (although the university prohibited hunting within a half a mile of campus), and students often supplemented their meal plans through grouse hunting.

The UAF rifle team has won the NCAA Men's and Women's Championships six times, including the last five in a row. In 2002, UAF qualified an unprecedented five athletes for the U.S. World Championship Team. In winning this year's competition, UAF set NCAA records in team smallbore (4717) and team aggregate scoring (6287). UAF's total score, in fact, beat the old mark of 6234, set by West Virginia 14 years ago, by 53 points.