UK Rifle Prepped for 2017 NCAA Championships

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Kentucky rifle team will conclude the 2017 season this weekend at the NCAA Championships, hosted at Ohio State’s French Field House. 

UK qualified for the eight-team NCAA Championships for the 17th year in a row. 

The NCAA Championships will begin Friday with the smallbore. The first relay is scheduled to start at 10:15 a.m. ET and the second will begin at 12:45 p.m.

 

Air rifle will be held on Saturday, March 11. Relay times are set for 10:15 a.m. and 12:15 p.m.

 

The preparation and sighting period will begin 15 minutes before each relay. Finals will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Friday and at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

“We’re always excited to be at the NCAA Championships,” UK head coach Harry Mullins said. “I’m proud of this team and the effort they have given this season. We have seen some good things from all of the individuals in this group throughout the season. It is always great to have the opportunity to put it all together at the Championships.”

TCU enters the NCAA Championships as the No. 1- ranked team, while defending champion West Virginia is ranked No. 2. Murray State is ranked No. 3, Air Force is ranked No. 4, Alaska-Fairbanks ranks No. 5, while Kentucky checks in at No. 6. Ohio State is No. 7, and Nebraska rounds out the qualified teams at No. 8.

UK finished fifth with an aggregate score of 4669 at the 2016 NCAA Championships, which was contested at Akron’s Louis and Freda Stile Athletics Field House.

Kentucky shot 2356 in air rifle on Saturday, and 2313 in smallbore on Friday, last year. 

Kentucky qualified for the NCAA Championships for the 23rd time. UK won the national title in 2011 and holds six runner-up finishes. 

Projected out over the past few years, UK finished sixth in the Championships in 2015 after placing third in 2014, second in 2012 and 2013, and winning the title in 2011.

The overall team champion is determined by combining the smallbore and air rifle team total scores into an aggregate for each team.

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