Cats Down No. 13 Navy in Home Opener
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The third-ranked Kentucky rifle team came out with another impressive showing on Sunday after defeating No. 13 Navy, 4711-4640, inside the Buell Armory for its first home win of 2017-18. Four Wildcats shot 590 – or better – in air rifle, which led them to a 10-point increase in the discipline from the first match.
UK fired 2376 in air rifle and 2335 in smallbore.
“Overall, I thought we performed fairly well,” head coach Harry Mullins. “We pulled it together in standing a little better, and our air gun came up a little bit. It’s an up-and-down part to the season. Henrik’s (Larsen) numbers are hard to follow – those are huge. I was very proud of him. It’s tough to stay at that level, and for him to be able to do that – it’s a very exciting time.”
Freshman Henrik Larsen, who was heavily focused throughout Sunday’s contest, continued to impress and led the way for UK. He tied the school record and his personal-best score in air rifle (598) for the second week in a row. The Mysen, Norway, native set new school records in smallbore (595) and combined (1193) the previous week at the Ole Miss Open. In smallbore, Larsen finished just two points shy of that record at 593 for an 1191 aggregate and top-individual honors – another accolade that he received in Mississippi.
“I’ve been training consistently with a lot of shots – about 8,000 since I came (to Kentucky),” Larsen said. “I’ve been working really hard. (Today), I started off with 35-straight tens and wasn’t really thinking about what I was doing (at one point). I had two shots that slipped, and I felt like something was wrong. I just needed a small break and tried to get back into the rhythm, push into the deep tens and get a good decimal score as well.”
Cathryn Papasodora matched her career-high air rifle score of 594, improving six points from the Wildcats’ first match of the season and two better from her season-high score in 2016-17. The junior notched a 581 in smallbore for a 1175 aggregate, good enough to take home second place in the individual standings.
Junior Hanna Carr fired a 1173 aggregate, which finished third among individuals. Her 594 in air rifle came up just short of her career-high score of 595, but the Versailles, Kentucky, native still nabbed her highest score of the two matches this season.
The Wildcats will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 21 when they welcome No. 16 Morehead State to Lexington.
