Feb. 23, 2003

Two-time All-American Bradley Wheeldon capped off an outstanding regular season to win the Great American Rifle Conference Individual Air Rifle title Sunday at the GARC Championships in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Rifle Cats’ aggregate score of 6151 was good for fourth place overall.

Wheeldon, a junior from Eubank, Ky., shot a preliminary air rifle score of 397 to land a spot in the finals. His final round score of 98 for a combined 495 edged the 491 combined score turned in by Jacksonville State’s James Hall to clinch the title. UK freshman Vicki Goss followed closely behind with a 487 to take fifth place and freshman Brad Donoho shot a 480 to place ninth.

Wheeldon nearly added an individual smallbore title to his credit, but his score of 1176 was one point behind Army’s Paul Charbonneau and good for second place. Goss shot an 1163 to take ninth while Donoho shot an 1155 to take 12th place.

The Rifle Cats will await word from the NCAA Monday whether their scores registered in the NCAA Sectional two weeks ago were enough to qualify them for NCAA competition. The NCAA Rifle Championships are slated for March 14 and 15 at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.

AGATE:

Combined Team Scores (Smallbore & Air Rifle)1.Jacksonville State  61752.West Virginia       61743.Xavier              61674.Kentucky            61515.Army                61516.Mississippi         6045

Air Rifle1. Bradley Wheeldon 4955. Vicki Goss 4879. Brad Donoho 480

Smallbore2. Bradley Wheeldon 11769. Vicki Goss 116312.Brad Donoho 1155