No. 1 UK Rifle defeats No. 10 Navy

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 1 University of Kentucky rifle team won its fall finale against No. 10 Navy Saturday at Barker Hall, the home range of UK. Kentucky posted a total score of 4714 to top Navy’s total of 4660. The top individual scorer of the day was freshman Mary Tucker with a score of 1191.
 
The Wildcats began the day well with the first discipline, smallbore. Shooting a total of 2341, Kentucky put themselves at a strong lead. Tucker was the top shooter for this event with a total of 593. Kentucky’s Will Shaner was not far behind with his score of 590, while sophomore Richard Clark was in third with 581. With one Navy shooter in fourth place, sophomore Ruby Gomes was in fifth with 577.
 
Following a solid smallbore performance, the Wildcats did not slow the roll of the day’s competition as it moved into air rifle. At the conclusion of the discipline, the Cats came out on top. Once again, Tucker came out on top shooting a match-high of 598. Close behind was Shaner with a 597. In fourth, Clark shot a 590 tying with Navy’s Torrance Kang and Michael Zanti. This was the first time this season UK sent out the same lineup for both smallbore and air rifle.
 
The Wildcats moved up to No. 1 in this week’s College Rifle Coaches Association Poll after defeating then-No. 5 Ole Miss and then-No. 6 Akron last weekend. UK has a perfect 5-0 record so far this season.

Kentucky returns to action in the spring when the team travels to Columbus, Ohio on Jan. 11 to compete against Alaska and Ole Miss.
 
This season’s GARC Championships will be in Memphis, Tennessee, on Feb. 28-29. Kentucky will play host to the 2020 NCAA Championships in Memorial Coliseum on March 13-14. Tickets are available online at UKAthletics.com/NCAARifle.
 
For the latest on the Kentucky rifle team, follow @UKrifle on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.