WEST POINT, N.Y. — The Kentucky rifle team has captured the Great American Rifle Conference regular season title after defeating perennial power Army (4667-4624) in West Point, N.Y. Sunday, to finish 7-0 in conference action.
I was happy with the way our team performed today,? Kentucky head coach Harry Mullins said. ?Competing with Army is always a very close match. The match went back and forth all day long but the team stayed with their plans and kept working hard.?
The win improves the Wildcats 11-1 on the season with a lone blemish coming at the hands of defending NCAA Champion Alaska-Fairbanks. Kentucky wrapped up the weekend road trip with the win over Army in New York after previously dispatching N.C. State on Saturday in Palmyra, Pa.
Leading the way for UK was steadfast senior co-captain Amy Sowash who captured the individual match-high score with an 1173 total. Sowash posted a stellar 591 in air rifle and freshmen Thomas Csenge and Jennifer Pason also led the charge in both guns. Pason posted a match-high smallbore score (584) and Csenge followed with a third-place 583.
?We had some individual performances which were extremely strong from all our starting shooters, even though some scores may not reflect it as much as others,? Mullins said. ?Amy Sowash broke the 590?s in air rifle and we had three of our four starters in smallbore break 580, which is very solid.?
Kentucky captured the match with high scores in both guns, claiming smallbore (2322-2296) and air rifle (2345-2338).
?We had some small setbacks but the team kept coming back strong,? Mullins said. ?There were many times that some of the team could have felt that things were not going to go their way today, yet they came away with a win at Army?s home range which will be a big step in achieving the goals that our team has set for themselves.?
UK will now focus on preparing for a Jan. 28 tournament to be held in Murray, Ky. and a Feb. 3 matchup with Rose-Hulman to finish off the regular season slate. After posting solid scores throughout conference competition, the Wildcats are sure to be a force in the NCAA Qualifiers and GARC Conference Championships with all roads leading to the NCAA Championships in March.
