No. 2 Kentucky Hosts No. 4 West Virginia Saturday

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 2 University of Kentucky rifle team looks to end its 2020-21 regular season on a high note Saturday as its plays host to No. 4 West Virginia in the Barker Hall Rifle Range.
 
The match is scheduled to have two relays and will get underway at 9 a.m. ET. The second relay will begin at approx. 1 p.m. ET. Live targets are available on UKathletics.com.
 
Saturday’s match will conclude the regular season for Kentucky, who will host an NCAA Qualifier with Morehead State on Feb. 20 before the Great America Rifle Conference Championships on Feb. 27-28.
 
“This is always an exciting time of year as we near postseason competition,” UK head coach Harry Mullins said. “WVU is a very talented and deep team. I know it will be fun for our team to have them in our range and compete against them shoulder to shoulder. Our team has put in a lot of effort this season to get to a point where we can have some good performances this spring. I am excited for the team to compete tomorrow and look forward to a really good match.”
 
Kentucky has competed well this season with its only loss coming at the start of the spring season at highly ranked Ole Miss. The Wildcats are averaging a 2343.38 in smallbore and 2375.88 in air rifle for an average team aggregate of 4719.25. UK has scored at least 4706 in every match this season, including a school-record 4735 at Murray State back in November.
 
The Wildcats competed five times in January, scoring a 4713 at Ole Miss, 4734 vs. Nebraska, 4728 at the Withrow Open, 4706 vs. Memphis and 4709 at Ohio State. Kentucky is one of only two teams in the nation to score over a 4734 twice this season with the other being West Virginia. The Wildcats have the second- and third-best smallbore team scores in the nation this season and have scored 2377 or higher in air rifle a nation-leading six times.
 
Sophomore Mary Tucker leads Kentucky this season by averaging a 591.625 in smallbore, 598 in air rifle and 1189.625 aggregate. Junior Will Shaner is averaging a 589.375 in smallbore, 596.125 in air rifle and 1185.500 aggregate. Tucker and Shaner are two of three shooters in the nation to score 595 in smallbore this season, while Tucker is one of six shooters with a perfect 600 in air rifle this year.
 
Junior Richard Clark is averaging a 582.25 in smallbore, 590 in air rifle and 1172.25 overall, while junior Mitchell Nelson is averaging a 1166.596 aggregate. Senior Hailee Sigmon is averaging a 1166.071 aggregate, while sophomores Jaden Thompson and Emmie Sellers are having good seasons with aggregate averages of 1165.625 and 1159.096, respectively. Sophomore Mason Hamilton is averaging a 1150.167 and junior Mason Joachim is averaging a 1147.086.
 
West Virginia is 7-0 this season and performed well two weekends ago when it posted a 4734 team score in a quad-match with Ole Miss, Navy and Akron before following up with a 4737 against Ole Miss the next day in a dual match vs. the Rebels. As a team, WVU is averaging a 2341.60 in smallbore, 2380.40 in air rifle and an average aggregate of 4722. Akihito Shimizu and Jared Eddy are both averaging high numbers this season. Shimizu is averaging a 596 in smallbore, 597.5 in air rifle and 1183.5 overall, while Eddy is earning a 587.4 in smallbore, 594.4 in air rifle and 1181.8 overall.
 
For more information on the Kentucky rifle team, visit UKathletics.com or follow UKRifle on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.