No. 3 Rifle Hosts No. 1 West Virginia Saturday in GARC Finale
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 3 University of Kentucky rifle team wraps up Great America Rifle Conference competition Saturday as it plays host to No. 1 West Virginia inside the UK Rifle Range in Barker Hall.
Saturday’s match will feature two relays with sights and prep for relay one smallbore beginning at 8 a.m. ET. Air rifle will follow at approx. 10 a.m. ET and the UK Rifle Range will open to fans at that time. Relay two is expected to get underway with smallbore around Noon ET with air rifle to follow around 2 p.m. ET. The UK Rifle Range only opens to spectators for air rifle relays, however free breakfast and live targets are available in Barker Hall during smallbore. Admission is free.
Another way for fans to follow along both in-person and watching at home will be live commentary online to help provide a breakdown of the action and how the teams and competitors are performing. Former UK All-American Billy Azzinaro, who helped lead UK to the 2018 NCAA Championship, will be providing commentary of the action on Saturday. The live commentary will be available through the UK Rifle Facebook Page, along with live targets and a NCAA scorecard.
“Good to be back home and look forward to our annual match vs. West Virgina,” UK head coach Harry Mullins said. “This should be a great match. WVU is a great team and always is well coached and competes at a very high level. I think we did some good things last week in Alaska given all the travel issues and things we had to work around. The team has been working hard this week in training, and I hope Big Blue Nation will come out and support them.”
Kentucky is coming off a 4740 team score last Saturday in Alaska after an array of travel issues canceled one match. Alaska posted an impressive 4757 in the match to give Kentucky its first dual-match loss of the season. It was sophomore Braden Peiser that led Kentucky in the match, finishing second overall with an individual aggregate score of 1189. Part of that score included a 600-59x in air rifle, which tied teammate Sofia Ceccarello for the NCAA record score in that discipline. Peiser added a 589 in smallbore, while Ceccarello and freshman Liz Probst finished with 1186 aggregate scores. As a team, Kentucky posted a 2349 in smallbore and beat Alaska in air rifle with a 2391. The high air rifle team score is just one point off UK’s school record team score in the discipline of 2392.
On the season, Kentucky is averaging 2348 in smallbore and 2382.33 in air rifle for a 4730.33 team aggregate average. UK’s season-best team score came Nov. 24 in a tri-match with Air Force and Akron in Colorado Springs, Colorado, earning a 4748. Individually, Peiser is Kentucky’s top aggregate performer with a 591.455 smallbore average and 596.696 air rifle average for an aggregate average of 1188.091. Ceccarello has the team’s best air rifle average at 597.727 and is second in aggregate average with a 1186.949 including her 589.222 smallbore average. Probst is having a great freshman season with a 584 smallbore average and 595.091 air rifle average for a 1197.091 aggregate average. Fellow freshman Sam Adkins is also averaging a 1179.091 aggregate average with a 584.091 smallbore average and 595 air rifle average. Junior Martin Voss is averaging a 584.6 in smallbore and 591.7 in air rifle, while senior Ally Buesseler is earning a 583 average in smallbore and 590.182 in air rifle. Freshman Brandon Evans is earning a 581.091 in smallbore and 589.5 in air rifle, while junior AJ Hotko is posting a 577 smallbore average and 590.333 air rifle average. Freshman Hannah Todd is having a good season, averaging a 565.5 in smallbore and 583.5 in air rifle, while sophomore Emily Marne is earning a 546.75 in smallbore and 571.75 in air rifle.
WVU is the top ranked team in the nation currently with an aggregate average of 4742.5, including a 2356.3 smallbore average and 2386.2 air rifle average. The Mountaineers are coming off a 4747 team score at Akron on Jan. 26. WVU’s season-high score is a 4756 in a tri-match with Ohio State and Morehead State. Gavin Barnick is the team’s leading aggregate performer with a 590.222 smallbore average and 596.556 air rifle average, while Griffin Lake is right behind him with a 589.5 smallbore average and 596.2 air rifle average. Saturday’s match is the final GARC competition of the season for both WVU and Kentucky. Currently, both teams have unblemished records in conference play.
This weekend’s match concludes regular-season competition for Kentucky, which will host a NCAA Qualifier with Morehead State on Feb. 22 inside the UK Rifle Range. Postseason competition begins March 1-2 with the Great America Rifle Conference Championships in Morgantown, West Virginia.
Historic Memorial Coliseum is set to host the 2025 NCAA Rifle National Championships on March 14-15 and both all-session tickets and single-session tickets are now on sale. The two-day event will see the best air rifle and smallbore competitors in the nation compete on the Historic Memorial Coliseum floor. The smallbore competition will be March 14 followed by air rifle competition on March 15. All-session and single-session tickets are on sale now through the UK Athletics Account Manager. All-session tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for youth (ages 3-18) and seniors (age 65+). Single-session tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for youth (ages 3-18) and seniors (age 65+). Children ages 2 and under will be admitted free of charge.
For more information on the Kentucky rifle team, visit UKathletics.com or follow UKRifle on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
