April 16, 2012

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky sophomore Emily Holsopple fired a two-day total of 785 to win the silver medal in women’s air rifle at the 2012 USA Shooting Junior Olympics, held over the weekend in Colorado Springs, Colo., at the USA Shooting Training Complex.

At 20 years old, Holsopple competed in her final junior Olympics, posting a 389 during day one of the women’s air rifle competition and a 396 during the second day of competition. She shot a 100 during the final round for a total score of 885.

“I thought the match went well for Emily at times. I was real proud of her,” UK head coach Harry Mullins said. “She dug her a little bit of a hole, felt she was better than that and she just couldn’t get her 10s to drop. She just didn’t have her best first day. I was real proud she held it together and put herself back in a position to where she could win it on the second day. She just held on a little too hard on the last shot which ended up putting her in second. You have to be proud of an athlete when they recover from a hardship in their expected performance and come back and continue to put themselves in a winning position. She showed a lot of heart and courage on her part. Being down early and to come back the second day was impressive.

Holsopple completed her sophomore season with the Wildcats in 2012, leading UK to its second consecutive Great American Rifle Conference regular-season championship, with UK finishing second at the NCAA Championships. Holsopple helped UK win its first NCAA Championship in 2010-11, when UK set an NCAA record with a 4700 total team score.

“She is a very hard worker and you could see that both days,” Mullins said. “I was proud of her to put a solid performance together. It is unfortunate she couldn’t defend her smallbore title, she wanted to get back to school and get ready for finals and work on her studies and make sure she can do as well as she can academically. That says a lot that she gave up a chance to defend her title just to focus on academics. To end her junior Olympic career in second place is a great accomplishment. It shows the true diligence of the type of athlete she is and the commitment she has for academics and athletics.”