Riflery Faces MIT In Second Match

The Harvard varsity riflery team will try to even their record today against MIT. Last Saturday the team lost a close match to Yale.

Up to ten people on each team compete in a match. They shoot ten record shots at each of three targets from the prone, kneeling, and standing positions. The four highest total scores count.

Against Yale the sharpshooters were edged out by a 935-911 score. Captain Ernie Rau led the Crimson qualifiers with a 247 total score and was the high shooter on either side.

Other qualifiers for Harvard were Dan Pierce (231), Tony Maranto (225), and Richard Chen (208). Yale's scores of 242, 239, 238, and 216 revealed their superior depth and subsequent victory.

However there's no reason to turn in your cartridge belts. The loss against Yale was nevertheless encouraging as solid performances were turned in by all ten shooters, eight of whom were firing in competition for the first time. Most notable was the score of number two shooter Pierce, who before this year had not shot a rifle since his "load and lock one round" days at summer camp.

Two women marksmen, Lori Christensen and Janet Eck, just missed qualifying despite the fact that they both took up riflery just three weeks ago.

Captain Rau was inspired by this performance and remarked, "Now that fall sports have ended we expect to have more talent coming out for the team--hopefully members of the field hockey team. Harvard women seem to pick up the sport and improve more rapidly than men."

As for today's match against the Engineers, Rau is sure that the boys from downtown will bite his team harder than the Bulldogs.

"MIT's riflery program is one of the best in the country. The reason is that MIT requires athletics of all its students and many find riflery, which calls more for skills in breathing and concentration than in physical conditioning, to be the sport best suited for them," Rau said.

The match begins today at 4:30 p.m. at the rifle range in the basement of the University Printing Office. The squad will have plenty of time to stock up on ammunition since its next match is not until December 3 against Northeastern.

Now don't turn to some other page just because you don't know anything about riflery. I'll teach you.