For the first time, an NDSU team represented North Dakota in the intercollegiate national pistol tournament, March 16-19. The 2001 NRA Intercollegiate Pistol Championships were held at Ft. Benning, Ga.
The four-member team consisted of Matthew Pueppke, a freshman from Ayr, N.D.; Jacob Longlet, a freshman from Arthur, N.D.; Jesse Meyers, a senior from St. Louis Park, Minn.; and Tim Jacobson, a senior from Barnesville, Minn.
Pueppke finished in third place in Intercollegiate National Air Pistol, while the NDSU team score of 2,148 put the squad in sixth place, ahead of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Mass Institute of Technology, Yale University and Michigan State University. The U.S. Military Academy at West Point took first place.
“The level of professionalism and sportsmanship I witnessed from the other teams and coaches at this tournament was unreal,” said Jacobson. “It was an honor to shoot along side of them, while proudly representing North Dakota.”
According to Jacobson, members of the NDSU club shot in the North Dakota Collegiate Sectional on Feb. 19 at the Red River Regional Marksmanship Center in West Fargo, which allowed the team to submit a team score in International Air Pistol from the top four NDSU air pistol scores. He said the team was invited to the national tournament based on the scores.