July 22, 2003
When Bradley Wheeldon began shooting BB guns at age three in tiny Eubank, Ky., he never imagined that his ability to hit targets with incredible accuracy would take him around the world. His marksmanship skills have landed him in a number of international shooting competitions, and he’ll add another when he aims for a gold medal at the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, August 1-16.
Wheeldon, a senior on the UK rifle team, may be the finest student-athlete on campus of whom you know the least.
“He’s the crown jewel of our program, and he gets better every year,” Kentucky Rifle Coach Harry Mullins said.
Wheeldon is a six-time National Rifle Association All-American, earning honors in both rifle events, smallbore and air rifle, in each of his three years as a Wildcat. Wheeldon first competed nationally at age 14 in the National Junior Olympics, and has since competed in Spain, Germany, South Korea and Finland.
A look at Wheeldon’s accomplishments best illustrates his standing among UK’s elite student-athletes. Wheeldon owns the highest season averages for a UK shooter in the kneeling and standing components of smallbore competition. Wheeldon has the highest season averages for both the smallbore and air rifle events in the history of the UK rifle program.
In March, he took runner-up honors in smallbore and third place in air rifle at the NCAA RifleChampionships in West Point, N.Y. On the same day, Wheeldon was one of three student-athletes in collegiate rifle to be named to the USA Shooting National Development Team. Though quite an achievement, the honor he added in May means much more. After a tryout in Fort Benning, Ga., USA Shooting Coach David Johnson named Wheeldon to the USA Pan American Games team. Individual records notwithstanding, Wheeldon experienced an extra sense of gratification.
“I felt that being named to Team USA was my big break. When Coach Johnson selected me to the team, I felt as if I had finally gotten to where I wanted to be all along,” Wheeldon said.
Wheeldon hopes to use the Pan American Games as a stepping stone in achieving his ultimate goal; the chance to represent the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
“It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I first started competing. I’ve just got to convince myself that I’m ready to take on the next challenge and represent the United States once again,” Wheeldon said.
As a student-athlete, Wheeldon is hardly one-dimensional. Wheeldon has given time outside of class and competition for community service projects in conjunction with UK’s Center for Academic and Tutorial Services (CATS). In the classroom, Wheeldon carries a 3.459 grade-point average and is on track to complete UK’s five-year master’s program in physical therapy. Wheeldon also was named to the College Rifle Coaches Association All-Academic Team in 2003.
Former UK student-athletes like Mary Elsass, Eric Anderson and 2000 Olympic gold medalist Nancy Napolski represent the best of UK rifle’s past. As for the present and future, Mullins expects this small-town blue-blood to be among the cream of the crop in the annals of UK rifle.
“There’s no reason why he can’t be the best we’ve had here at Kentucky,” Mullins said.
“I’ll never have another Bradley. He’s the type of individual you build a program around.”
