March 9, 2013
LEXINGTON, Ky. – With the season wrapped up earlier in the day at the NCAA Championships, the University of Kentucky rifle team was honored with six members named All-America, it was announced Saturday night.
“We’re excited to have six members of our team receive All-America honors,” UK head coach Harry Mullins said. “It just goes to show the depth of our program and recognizes the hard work the whole team put in throughout the season. I’m proud of the effort and dedication this team has demonstrated throughout the course of the season.”
Connor Davis was selected to the first team in air rifle, while also being a part of the second team in smallbore. The freshman finished fourth individually in air rifle on Saturday at the NCAA Championships, shooting a 592. Davis shot a season-high 597 twice, vs. TCU and Alaska-Fairbanks.
Junior Emily Holsopple was honored as second team in air rifle and first team in smallbore, an honor she also received following the 2012 season.
Seniors Ed Ryznar, Heather Greathouse and Stacy Wheatley ended their collegiate career with honors, as Greathouse was selected to first team in air rifle and second team in smallbore, while Ryznar and Wheatley were named honorable mention in air rifle.
Sophomore Elijah Ellis was honored for the first time in his collegiate career, being named honorable mention in air rifle.
Although boasting a top-five smallbore average and top-10 air rifle average over the course of the year, NRA regulations prohibited senior Henri Junghänel from being honored. Junghänel graduated in December and is pursuing a graduate degree but NRA regulations state that students pursuing a graduate degree are not eligible for the honors.
If eligible, Junghänel would have been a member of the first team in both air rifle and smallbore.
“It’s disappointing that Henri was not able to be honored after he had such an outstanding season,” Mullins said. “He has given the Wildcats an All-American effort and that caliber of results all season.
“He has met all academic eligibility standards of the NCAA and it’s very unfortunate the NRA doesn’t recognize eligibility like the NCAA and penalizes student-athletes for continuing their education into graduate school. He would have been first team in both guns but due to lack of progress in the rules and the understanding of NCAA eligibility, he was not awarded this honor”
Air Rifle
1st Team:
Connor Davis, Heather Greathouse
2nd Team:
Emily Holsopple
Honorable Mention:
Ed Ryznar, Elijah Ellis, Stacy Wheatley
Smallbore
1st Team:
Emily Holsopple
2nd Team:
Heather Greathouse, Connor Davis
