Oct. 18, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky rifle team will play host to two top-10 teams this weekend, facing off against in-state opponent, No. 10 Murray State Friday morning at 8 a.m., before hosting conference opponent, No. 4 Army Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m.
“It’s nice to get back home, even though we’ve only been on one road trip,” UK head coach Harry Mullins said. “The comforts of home are great. It’s exciting to get to have family and friends come by and check us out but also give people the opportunity to follow us online with our live scoring. We are starting our stretch of three home games and we’re really going to get to test ourselves at home.”
Kentucky shot up the polls to No. 3 after knocking off then-No. 4 Nebraska, 4666 – 4643 Oct. 13 in Lincoln, Neb. Senior Henri Junghänel led the Wildcats with an aggregate score of 1181 after shooting an impressive 590 in smallbore. Junior Emily Holsopple led Kentucky in air rifle, shooting a 592.
“We had some great things last week with Henri’s 590 in smallbore and Emily’s 592 in air rifle,” Mullins said. “We are hoping to improve on last week’s performance and see what our week of practice has done. Everyone has worked hard this week but you really see if the practice has paid off when you compete against another team.”
Murray State enters the weekend after finishing fourth in the Ole Miss Invitational on Oct. 5. The Racers finished the 14-team event with an aggregate score of 4621. Murray opened its season with a win over UT Martin and Columbus State 4625 – 4576.
Army and Murray State will square off Saturday morning in Lexington; before Army faces Kentucky Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m. Army enters the weekend 1-1, coming off a 4658 – 4631 win over Memphis this past weekend. The Black Knights fell in their first contest of the season, 4709 – 4631 to No. 1 West Virginia.
The Wildcats lineup will be similar to last week’s, featuring Junghänel, Emily Holsopple, freshman Connor Davis, sophomore Elijah Ellis and junior Aaron Holsopple, competing in his first match as a Wildcat. The remainder of the roster will also compete in Friday’s match.
“Getting back into the competition mode is important,” Mullins said. “This past weekend illuminated things for some folks and it’s time to see if they have made the necessary adjustments this week in practice.”
Follow live scoring of both matches at interactive.ukathletics.com/rifle.
