Jan. 30, 2003
Rifle Coach Harry Mullins doesn’t look at coaching Kentucky’s only co-ed sport as a challenge. He looks at it as a unique opportunity, and has done so for 16 years.
“I don’t look at them as men and women,” Mullins said. “I look at them as pure athletes.”
When many UK sports fans think of success in UK athletics, they look toward men’s basketball and cheerleading. But right there every step of the way has been the UK rifle team. The Kentucky Rifle Cats have finished as the NCAA runners-up each of the last two years and three times overall. In addition, UK Rifle alumnus Nancy Johnson (formerly Nancy Napolski) took home the gold medal in air rifle in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. So what the UK Rifle team may lack in local recognition, it certainly makes up for worldwide.
In a rifle meet, two or more rifle teams of four shooters apiece compete in two separate events: smallbore and air rifle. In smallbore, team members aim and fire at target sheets consisting of 10 bulls-eyes placed 50 feet away. The shooters fire 40 shots from three different positions: prone (lying headfirst), kneeling and standing. In the air rifle event, shooters stand and fire at similar target sheets from 10 meters away. A perfect bulls-eye is 10 points, thus a perfect individual score in a given round of 40 shots is 400.
Rifle in the NCAA is different than most NCAA sanctioned sports because it is a sport that sustains only a minimal number of scholarships and generally small audiences. In addition, the NCAA allows only 3.6 scholarships for rifle teams. Coach Mullins says the limitations just come with the territory.
“The scholarship limitations are things that just come with the sport that you can’t do much about. Sure, it bothers you, but every school that fields a rifle team has to deal with this,” Mullins said.
Besides the limited visibility of rifle, Coach Mullins’ rifle program is often the subject of a light-hearted stereotype. Some think the use of rifles in a sport harbors a more barbaric intent within the minds of rifle team members.
“One thing that gets on my nerves is when people say, ‘I don’t want to make you guys mad because you’ll probably shoot me,'” Mullins said.
“The members of this team are not out to hurt anyone. They are out there to compete.”
One thing not up for debate is the sustained success of Coach Mullins both as a rifle student-athlete and head rifle coach at Kentucky. Mullins led all Southeastern Conference shooters in smallbore shooting during the 1983, 1984 and 1986 seasons. Upon completion of his stellar rifle career, UK named Mullins the head rifle coach for the 1987-88 season, making Mullins the first civilian head coach at a NCAA school. Mullins has since led Kentucky to three NCAA runner-up finishes, coached 17 All-Americans and is a two-time National Collegiate Rifle Coaches’ Association Coach of the Year. Even so, it’s not all about accolades for Coach Mullins.
“It’s an honor just to be associated with one of our team members when they achieve great things here. These are more their achievements than mine, and it’s a credit to those athletes who have put in so much time to improve their performances,” Mullins said.
A number of things have changed during Mullins’ tenure at UK. Nationwide interest in rifle has increased, and more NCAA schools are fielding rifle programs. In the late 1980s, the NCAA cut the allotted number of annual rifle scholarships from four to 3.6. In 1996, Kentucky became a charter member of the Great American Rifle Conference, allowing the Rifle Cats to compete against traditionally strong competition during the regular season in preparation for the NCAA Rifle Championships. According to Mullins, one thing hasn’t changed: the determination of the student-athletes.
“These student-athletes understand that once they finish their careers at Kentucky and potentially compete in the Olympics, they don’t have a NFL or NBA to go to. They simply compete for pride and personal gratification,” Mullins said.
“They can be a first-team All-American here, but they can’t get drafted and make a nice living like they can in other sports. They should be commended for what they do here.”
The strong performance of the 2002-2003 Rifle Cats thus far suggests Kentucky may be in for big things when the NCAA Rifle Championships take place in March in West Point, N.Y. The strong shooting of junior Bradley Wheeldon and freshman Vicki Goss along with a solid core of veterans has Coach Mullins optimistic.
“If we compete like we know we are capable of competing, I think this team can do great things in March.”
