March 14, 2014
MURRAY, Ky. – The University of Kentucky rifle team wrapped up the first day of competition in the 2014 NCAA Championships, shooting a 2316 in smallbore to sit in fourth heading into air rifle competition Saturday morning at the Pat Spurgin Rifle Range.
“We had an all right day today, nothing great but also not disappointed with the performance,” UK head coach Harry Mullins said. “We shot a lot of 9.9s and sometimes that happens, West Virginia, Alaska and Memphis all had strong showings.”
Senior Emily Holsopple and freshman Heather Kirby opened the day for the Wildcats on the first relay, with Holsopple posting a 580 and Kirby shooting a 573.
In the second relay for UK, senior Aaron Holsopple shot a 573.
Sophomore Connor Davis and freshman Sonya May represented the Wildcats in the final relay. Davis shot a team-best 582, his fifth time shooting the highest smallbore score this season. May wrapped up the day with a 581.
West Virginia claimed the smallbore title with a 2338, while Alaska-Fairbanks and Memphis rounded out the top three with scores of 2321 and 2320, respectively.
“West Virginia had a really good match but we’re only five points behind Alaska in second,” Mullins said. “We’ve been struggling a little in smallbore but we saw improvement since the conference championships so you’ve got to be pleased with that.”
Live scoring and much more from the championships can be found at goracers.com.
“We’ll continue to work tomorrow and I feel that air rifle is one of our strengths so hopefully we’ll have a strong showing tomorrow,” Mullins said.
