No. 3 Rifle Remains Unblemished, Defeats Air Force, Nebraska, UTEP
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 3 University of Kentucky rifle team continued its impressive start to the 2019-20 season Saturday by earning a 2309 in smallbore and 2377 in air rifle to total an overall team score of 4686 and earn victories over No. 4 Air Force, No. 14 Nebraska and No. 19 UTEP. The match took place in U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado, on the campus of the Air Force Academy.
After a 2309 in smallbore to start the match, the Wildcats shined in air rifle to earn the victory with a score of 2377. Kentucky’s air rifle score was the best at the match by 14 points and ties the second highest air rifle score in the nation so far this season. UK and WVU are tied for the highest air rifle score this season at 2382.
Kentucky’s strong air rifle score came behind impressive performances from freshman Mary Tucker and sophomore Will Shaner, who also finished first and third, respectively, in the overall individual race. Tucker shot 598 in the discipline to top Shaner, who fired a 597. Sophomore Ruby Gomes scored 593 in air rifle, followed by freshman Jaden Thompson and sophomore Richard Clark with 589s.
Tucker and Shaner also led Kentucky in smallbore with Tucker posting the second highest score of the day at 584 while Shaner posted the third highest at 579. Thompson shot a 574 while Clark and junior Hailee Sigmon tied at 573.
“Overall, I feel we had a good effort today. The team had to work very hard for every point they earned and even though we did not hit our mark from last week, I think we learned a lot about the areas we need to improve in,” said UK head coach Harry Mullins. “This was a very close match all the way through and I feel all the teams really pushed hard.”
The host of the match, Air Force, finished second scoring 2315 in smallbore, 2359 in air rifle and a 4674 overall. Nebraska finished third overall with 2273 in smallbore, 2363 in air rifle and 4636 overall while UTEP finished fourth with 2243 in smallbore, 2317 in air rifle and 4560 overall.
UK will have the weekend off next week before returning to action Friday, Nov. 8, against No. 7 Ole Miss at the Buell Armory. No. 6 Akron will make the trip to Lexington on Sunday, Nov. 10.
This season’s GARC Championships will be in Memphis, Tennessee, on Feb. 28-29. Kentucky will play host to the 2019 NCAA Championships in Memorial Coliseum on March 13-14.
For the latest on the Kentucky rifle team, follow @UKrifle on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
