LEXINGTON, Ky. — The No. 3 Kentucky rifle team will kick off postseason competition when it travels to Murray, Ky. for the NCAA Qualifier and National Rifle Association Sectionals, the first step before reaching the NCAA Championships in March.
?Going into this weekend we really need to be close to the top of our game,? Kentucky head coach Harry Mullins said. ?It is getting tournament time. The NCAA qualifier is really the first part of the tournament. If you do not perform well it makes it very hard to get into the final eight teams [taken to the NCAA Championships]. It will also be the NRA sectionals, which is a national match that allows us to compare our scores with everybody else.?
Kentucky (13-1, 7-0) earlier this season secured the Great American Rifle Conference Championship after going undefeated in conference action. The only blemish on the Wildcats regular-season record was a narrow defeat at the hands of defending NCAA Champion Alaska-Fairbanks. UK is ranked third as gathered by the National Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association, which averages the three top team scores nationally to form rankings.
?This is a great weekend in that everybody is shooting at various locations around the country,? Mullins said. ?Some are shooting their qualifier at home and other schools are shooting on the road. It will be an indicator for what we need to work on in the next few weeks going into the GARC championships, and NCAA?s if we get selected. I think this is one of the strongest fields of teams trying to make it to the final eight. There has been a lot more parity this season among teams.?
The Wildcats have been paced by several stalwarts in a potent UK lineup, including senior co-captain Amy Sowash. Sowash has performed consistently strong in smallbore action and that consistency has led to significant national and international attention. The Richmond, Ky. native has been all over the globe this season competing in various individual competitions, in addition to shooting with the United States National Team. Sowash has been joined in the lineup by freshmen Tom Csenge and Jen Pason. The two have performed solid all season and are battling it out for GARC Freshman of the Year honors.
?We have been working hard all week and I feel that it is going to pay off this weekend,? Mullins concluded. ?Unlike in some of the past years, I think that the team has had a little more focus during the regular season. They have worked very hard to get to this point and will work even harder given the chance to advance.?
