March 9, 1998

The University of Kentucky rifle team finished third at the NCAA Championships on Sunday, March 8.

The Wildcats finished with a score of 4,635 in team smallbore and 1,526 points in team air rifle. The Cats finished 53 points behind national champion West Virginia, who posted a total score of 6,161 points. Alaska-Fairbanks shot a score of 6,211 to finish second. In the individual air rifle competition, UK’s Mary Elsass finished with 390.21 points, putting her in fourth place. Chuck Metz was tenth with 378.14 points.

In smallbore, David Fowler’s score of 1161.66 points put him in eighth place, while Elsass’ score of 1156.59 put her in 16th. Metz was 20th with 1151.59 points.

“This year we had to work really hard to get there [the championships],” head coach Harry Mullins said. “To finish third is a lot greater than it may seem. We’re very happy to be where we are.”