LEXINGTON, Ky. — After moving swiftly through the fall portion of the schedule, the Kentucky rifle team kicks off the winter semester with a weekend trip to Palmyra, Pa. to face N.C. State Saturday and Army Sunday.

?We will be facing two very good teams this weekend in N.C. State and Army,? Kentucky head coach Harry Mullins said. ?N.C. State is a newcomer to the conference and Army is always one of the best teams in the country. If I had to rank Army, I would put them in front of us nationally because of their depth and the strength of their shooters. We will see how the layoff affects both teams and if we can get back up to the level we were shooting at last semester.?

The Wildcats will look to return to the form they displayed in the fall, racing through their 10-opponent schedule with an excellent 9-1 record. The only blemish to be found of their first semester slate was a narrow defeat at the hands of defending NCAA Champion Alaska-Fairbanks.

?We?re coming off a pretty strong fall,? Mullins said. ?We?ve had wins against No. 2 Nebraska, No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 7 Murray State as far as last year?s rankings goes.?

Despite the loss to the Nanooks, the Wildcats posted their highest team score of the season (4680) and solidified the team as a national contender for the NCAA Championships come March.

Several individuals have stood out thus far for UK, including several fresh faces. Freshmen Thomas Csenge, Leslie Angeli, Jen Pason, and Ashley Jackson have provided a welcome addition of talented young to a roster loaded with veteran leadership from senior co-captains Amy Sowash and Justin Rinker. Pason and Csenge have been a fixture in the starting lineup and have provided several solid smallbore and air rifle scores.

?We closed the fall with a good team score that still left us short of the win over Alaska-Fairbanks,? Mullins said. ?Now we have to come out of the gate strong and continue the path of improving our scores each match. This weekend will be a great opportunity for us to find out where we stand.?