?We closed out the fall this year 9-1. We lost our last match to Alaska-Fairbanks, which was a loss but it was also the best performance we had all year. We shot a score of 4680 out of a possible 4800. Alaska-Fairbanks had a score of 4689. Those are the two highest scores reported in the country so far. We?re coming off a pretty strong fall. We?ve had wins against No. 2 Nebraska, No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 5 Murray State as far as last year?s rankings goes. More so in our sport than other sports, numbers are huge in qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. We have to turn in our three top scores from throughout the year which makes up 50 percent of the selection process. Our NCAA qualifier in February makes up the other 50 percent. That score makes us ? I don?t want to say a lock ? but definitely puts us in contention to make sure that we get back to the NCAAs.
?We are 4-0 in the conference, which is the Great American Rifle Conference. That pretty much at least assures us a second-place tie. Our big match in the conference will be Army on Jan. 14 when we go head-to-head with them, and then the day before we face N.C. State. Amy Sowash is currently going to represent the United States in a major competition against Czechoslovakia. We will take five members out to Colorado Springs, Colo., for the American team selection. I think we?ve got a good chance of putting one or two people on that team. Amy also this summer qualified for the U.S. National Team in smallbore. We?re off to a good start this year. We?re a very young team powered by two freshmen, one sophomore and one senior, and a junior that is being rotated in and out. If recruiting goes well along with what we have coming back, I think we?re really going to see some solid stuff in the next four to five years.?
On what Mullins looks for in potential athletes?
?The biggest thing is determination and work-ethic. It?s kind of like in football and basketball, you have the high school ranks. The leading kids are the ones that compete on the major national level. More so, just their drive is important. We maybe take off two or three weeks out of the year. When our season is over, we pretty much train and compete throughout the country all season long.?
On what parts of the country are ?hot beds? for rifle talent?
?It varies. This past few years it has been in the Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio areas and it has shifted into the Georgia area. Sometimes out West in Oregon and Washington state. A lot of it depends on the sponsorship and sometimes the political views because we do use guns. Right now, it is in the Southeast.?
On rifle athletes competing against themselves vs. the opposing team?
?It depends on who the other team is. There is no defense in our sport ? it is all offense. You have got to put as many points on the board as possible every single time. To sit there and try to compete other teams ? for example, it cost Alaska the national championship a few years back. The pressure is so intense with two shooters trying to compete against the others, that Army just did what it normally did and ended up winning the national championship. The best thing is just to put as many points up there as possible.?
