MURRAY, Ky. — Led by freshmen shooters Tom Csenge and Jen Pason, the No. 3 Kentucky rifle team finished in second place with a solid total score of 4641 in NCAA Qualifying competition, held Sunday at Murray State University.
?I thought we shot okay, nothing very special but we shot well,? Kentucky head coach Harry Mullins said. ?Jen Pason tied for first place in smallbore and lost the tiebreaker. Our air gun shooting wasn?t too strong – we just didn?t have a lot of shots go where we wanted. As it is now we are probably projected going into the NCAA Championships in fourth place, so we have some work to do. Ashley [Jackson] and Leslie [Angeli] have a chance to qualify in smallbore and/or air rifle individuals. It was a positive qualifier. The numbers don?t reflect the hard work that we put in to get there but we will get back to work and try to improve.?
Pason paced the Wildcats with a 582 smallbore score and a solid 584 air rifle total. Csenge followed with a 580 smallbore and 585 air rifle score. Senior co-captain Amy Sowash continued her outstanding final collegiate campaign with a 582 air rifle score.
Kentucky freshman Ashley Jackson took home the bronze individual medal in air rifle with a 588, while shooting on the white squad and fellow freshmen Leslie Angeli also contributed with a career-high performance.
?Ashley [Jackson] and Leslie [Angeli] actually had personal bests,? Mullins said. ?Ashley had a 588 in air rifle and a 575 in smallbore. So she had personal bests in everything. I am pretty darn proud of them. Leslie had a 571 and a 583 – personal bests in both events. Overall, they did real well. I am proud of the whole team but real proud of them, because they worked hard. It goes to show that if you keep working hard good things will come to you. Ashley is really starting to put it together and Leslie is starting to shoot well and move forward. They are doing a real good job of preparing like they should.?
Kentucky (13-1, 7-0), who earlier this season secured the Great American Rifle Conference Championship by going undefeated in conference action, will now turn its attention to preparing for the GARC Championships (Feb. 24-25) and the eventual NCAA Championships to be held in March.
