Braden Peiser Wins Smallbore Gold at GARC Championships
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Junior Braden Peiser continued his dominance this season in smallbore, earning the gold medal in the smallbore individual final at day one of the Great America Rifle Conference Championships in Army West Point.
Peiser posted a 597 during smallbore competition for Kentucky, which was the highest score at the championships, and then followed that up with a great individual final to win the gold medal by nearly an entire point.
As a team, Kentucky finished with a 2345 team score, which places UK in fourth place overall at the six-team event. West Virginia is first with a 2358 with Navy second at 2353 and Akron third at 2346. UK and Army tied at 2345 with UK earning more center shots, while Memphis wrapped up the leaderboard with a 2333.
Competition will continue Sunday with air rifle with relay one starting at 8:30 a.m. ET and relay two at approx. 10:30 a.m. ET. An eight-person individual final will be held following relay two on Sunday. Live targets and a NCAA Scorecard will be available online at UKathletics.com.
“Very happy for Braden, who performed very well today in both regular competition and the individual final,” UK head coach Harry Mullins said. “Braden has worked really hard this year and to see him win the gold in smallbore is very rewarding for everyone. Overall as a team, we did not perform well today and that sometimes happens. How we respond tomorrow will be telling and I look forward to seeing how we handle ourselves.”
Peiser led Kentucky in smallbore with a 597, posting a 197 in kneeling and then followed with perfect 200 in prone and perfect 200 in standing. Sophomore Liz Probst posted a 586 with a 197 kneeling, 195 prone and 194 standing, while senior Brandon Evans posted a 582 with a 196 in kneeling, 197 in prone and 189 in standing. Sophomore Sam Adkins posted a 580 with a 193 in kneeling, 197 in prone and 190 in standing, while senior Martin Voss wrapped up the squadded lineup with a 190 in kneeling, 197 prone and 191 in standing for a 578. Freshman Jacob St. Hilaire was unsqaudded and posted a 586 with a 192 kneeling, 199 prone and 195 standing.
Three Wildcats competed in air rifle during the competition Saturday with senior AJ Hotko scoring a 574, junior Emily Marne a 588 and sophomore Hannah Todd a 578.
