Oct. 24, 2013
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Following an opening-weekend win over No. 14 Mississippi, the University of Kentucky rifle team welcomes No. 15 North Carolina State Friday at 9 a.m., before hosting No. 7 Memphis Sunday at 8 a.m., in the Buell Armory.
“I expect the team to work hard this weekend and to work as hard as they have been in training,” UK head coach Harry Mullins said. “We’ve seen some great things in training from numerous people. Each week we want to move in the right direction and I feel this has been another good week.”
Kentucky’s counters are the same from last weekend, with the smallbore lineup featuring senior Emily Holsopple, sophomore Connor Davis, senior Aaron Holsopple and freshmen Heather Kirby and Sonya May. Kentucky’s air rifle counters are Emily Holsopple, Davis, May and juniors Cody Manning and Elijah Ellis.
The Wildcats are coming off a 4688-4621 win over Ole Miss on Saturday, with Emily Holsopple and Davis leading the way. The two both delivered an aggregate 1180, while Davis led the team in air rifle with a 595 and Holsopple posted a team-high 587 in smallbore
Aaron Holsopple and Heather Kirby posted solid 575s in smallbore, with Elijah Ellis and Sonya May posting 574s. Jonathan Pinkel shot a 578 in his first smallbore performance this year.
Along with Davis’ 595, Emily Holsopple and May broke the 590 barrier in air rifle, Holsopple shooting a 593 and May delivering a 591. Jonathan Pinkel posted a 588 in air rifle to bring his aggregate score to 1166. Ellis and Aaron Holsopple each shot a 587 in air rifle.
North Carolina State enters Friday’s match with wins at the South Eastern Air Rifle Conference matches 1 and 3, while dropping matches to Ole Miss and Alaska-Fairbanks. Daniel Cliff leads the Wolfpack in air rifle with an average of 579, while Alex Martin leads the squad in aggregate average at 1148.
The sixth-ranked Memphis Tigers will face off with North Carolina State on Saturday in Lexington before taking on Kentucky on Sunday. The Tigers have finished third in the Tiger Open and Ole Miss Open, shooting a 4629 and 4647, respectively.
Free breakfast will be available Friday in the Buell Armory at 9 a.m. for fans in attendance. Students on campus are encouraged to stop in for free breakfast and to check out the rifle action.
“It gives the opportunity for students to stop by, stick their head in the door and see what’s going on and then especially when air rifle starts come downstairs and check out the match,” Mullins said.
Live scoring of both matches will be available on UKRifle.com.
