HOMEGROWN REPORT
St. Louis grad Tanoue wins NCAA riflery title

By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer

For Ryan Tanoue, winning the NCAA air-rifle championship is another step on the road to his "ultimate goal," the Olympic Games.

Nevada freshman Tanoue, a St. Louis School graduate from Kaimuki, won the championship on a tie-breaker Friday in Murray, Ky.

"I'm getting there; it's becoming more of a reality as I progress," Tanoue said. "Getting to the Olympics is the ultimate goal of most athletes."

Tanoue's narrow victory qualified him for the 2002-03 National Development Team, just as his national Junior Olympics championship last summer had earned him a spot on the 2001-02 team.

He will compete in May for a spot on the U.S. World Championship Team and in June at the U.S. National Championships, both in Atlanta. The World Championships will be in Lathi, Finland, in early July.

Tanoue has only been a competitive shooter for five years. He turned out for the St. Louis rifle team when he was a freshman because he had "found it interesting" while he was shooting for a Boy Scout merit badge. He graduated from St. Louis last year and was awarded an athletic scholarship to Nevada.

Tanoue and defending champion Matt Emmons of Alaska-Fairbanks tied for first place at NCAAs, each scoring 329 of a possible 400 points on 40 shots. Tanoue had 29 centers to Emmons' 26 to win the tiebreaker.

There was no running scoreboard at the meet, so even though he and Emmons were each shooting 40 shots side by side, Tanoue did not know where he stood until the targets were counted.

"It's better not to know," Tanoue said. "I didn't worry about who was leading. It was easier on me."

In addition to his championship, Tanoue was chosen first team All-American, a decision made before the nationals but not announced until afterward.

Zig Look, his coach at St. Louis, believes Tanoue is the first riflery national collegiate champion and first riflery All-American from Hawai'i

"This has gotta be the best yet," Tanoue said, "winning a big, big match against some really good shooters. It's a really good accomplishment for me."

Nevada's team, which also included senior Jayde Look (Hawai'i Baptist '97) and her brother, sophomore Travis Look (St. Louis '99) finished eighth.