No. 4 UK Wins Kentucky Long Rifle Match
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 4 Kentucky rifle team defeated in-state opponents No. 11 Murray State and No. 16 Morehead State in the Kentucky Long Rifle Match. The Wildcats posted a total score of 8200 in their home opener, which featured a modified scoring system. For the second match in a row, freshman Mary Tucker was the top individual scorer of the match with an 1186.
UK now boasts the No. 3 smallbore score (2333) and No. 1 air rifle score (2382) in the country after Saturday’s match.
The Wildcats competed well during the first discipline of the day, smallbore. Kentucky shot a total of 4050 in comparison to Morehead State’s 3993 and Murray State’s 3985. Tucker shot a 588 with sophomore Richard Clark not too far behind with a 583. Fellow sophomore Will Shaner was only one point behind with a smallbore score of 582. Ruby Gomes was also close with a score of 579.
After a strong performance during smallbore, the Cats kept up their momentum and came out on top after air rifle competition. Tucker was the top shooter of the day with an air rifle finish of 598, a new career-high. Not far behind, Gomes shot a score of 596. In a tie, Clark and Shaner shot a 595 to round out the day. Freshman Emmie Sellers shot a 594, tying her career-high. Clark also tied his career-high.
The match brought together the three NCAA Division 1 rifle programs from Kentucky. Kentucky is the only state in the country with three collegiate teams.
The match utilized a unique format aggregating the scores from seven shooters, instead of the five designated squad members for smallbore and air rifle commonly used within NCAA competition. The scores from the five squad designees were still recorded from this match for NCAA qualifying purposes.
The Wildcats were awarded the “Kentucky Long Rifle” trophy for winning the match, which has been hand engraved to honor all the teams involved. This is the second year of the Kentucky Long Rifle with Kentucky having won both years.
UK returns to action next Saturday at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado on Oct. 26 to face No. 3 Air Force, No. 12 Nebraska and No. 19 UTEP.
