Nov. 8, 2013
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky rifle team returns to action for its final home contest of the fall, welcoming the newest member of the Great America Rifle Conference, 13th-ranked Navy on Saturday at 8 a.m. ET.
“It’s always exciting to get back to shooting matches on the weekend,” UK head coach Harry Mullins said. “I think training went well this week, we saw some really good things and hope to transition our performances into the match this weekend. The match should be a good match, it’s always an honor to go against a service academy, they are the nation’s elite students.”
The 4-0 Wildcats are returning from a weekend on the road that featured a 4694-4635 win over No. 8 TCU and snapped a four-match losing streak to the Horned Frogs. Senior Emily Holsopple led the way for Kentucky in its win over TCU, posting an individual aggregate of 1181, shooting a 589 in smallbore and a 592 in air rifle.
Kentucky’s smallbore counters on Saturday will include sophomore Connor Davis, Emily Holsopple, senior Aaron Holsopple and freshmen Sonya May and Heather Kirby. Air rifle counters include Davis, Emily Holsopple, May, Kirby and junior Elijah Ellis.
Emily Holsopple leads the way for Kentucky in smallbore this year, averaging 585.5. Davis boasts the highest air rifle average on the team with a 594.3.
Navy enters this weekend coming off a third-place finish at the President’s Trophy Match in Annapolis, Md. The Midshipmen’s highest point total came in a losing effort at Nebraska, shooting a 4631.
“This is Navy’s first year in the conference so we’re excited to welcome them to Lexington as a conference member,” Mullins said. “They are a quality program with a good coach and they all put their best foot forward. I’m looking forward to the quality of match we will see this weekend.”
Live scoring of Saturday’s match will be available on UKrifle.com.
“I’m looking forward to what we can do coming off our recent scores,” Mullins said. “Our goal is to get better every day and I think everyone has been working really hard in training and I’d like to see them continue to improve through this weekend.”
