Rifle
No. 2 Rifle Hosts Senior Day, NCAA Qualifier Saturday

No. 2 Rifle Hosts Senior Day, NCAA Qualifier Saturday

by Evan Crane

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The 2021 Great America Rifle Conference Regular-Season Co-Champions are back in action Saturday inside the UK Rifle Range as the Wildcats will host a very important NCAA Qualifier with No. 14 Morehead State and honor two amazing seniors for their impact on the program.
 
The match will have two relays with the first getting underway at approx. 9:30 a.m. ET. The second relay will begin closer to 1 p.m. ET with Senior Day ceremonies between the first and second relays.
 
“It is always very exciting to get to this point,” Coach Harry Mullins said. “The team has worked very hard this year to put themselves in this position. Now, the focus is on doing what we need to do to keep advancing. With COVID-19 and now all the inclement weather the last week, it has definitely been unique to get the training that we wanted. I am looking forward to seeing what we are capable of during this time and excited to watch the team compete.”
 
Saturday will be Senior Day for seniors Hailee Sigmon and Mason Joachim. Both athletes have had great careers since arriving in Lexington, including helping the 2019-20 team win both the GARC regular-season and tournament championships. Their performances last season also helped UK to an undefeated regular season and the top seed heading into the 2020 NCAA Championships, which were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This season, Sigmon is averaging 578.5 in smallbore and 587.571 in air rifle for an aggregate of 1166.071. Joachim is averaging 570 in smallbore and 575 in air rifle for an aggregate of 1145.
 
Sigmon came to Kentucky from Kiowa, Colorado and made an immediate impact on the program from the start. As a freshman, she competed in 14 matches and earned All-GARC honorable mention in air rifle. As a sophomore, she was All-America Second Team and All-GARC Second Team in smallbore, earning a career high 590 in the discipline at the Kentucky Long Rifle Match. Last season, Sigmon was All-America Second Team in both air rifle and smallbore and fired a career-best 598 in air rifle during the NCAA Qualifier.
 
Joachim came to the Bluegrass State from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, where he was a two-time state champion and two-time competitor at the National Junior Olympic Championships. He had his best season as a Wildcat last season, setting career best marks in both smallbore and air rifle. He fired his career-best air rifle score of 589 in the NCAA Qualifier last season. He performed well as a sophomore at UK, averaging 566.7 in smallbore and 569.4 in air rifle for an aggregate average of 1136.1. As a freshman, he averaged 568.11 in air rifle and 557.22 in smallbore.
 
Saturday’s NCAA qualifying score will be the last factor determining the field for the 2021 NCAA Rifle Championships. Each team’s three score aggregate average – the score based on each team’s highest three regular season scores fired at three different locations – has already been recorded. This weekend’s qualifier score will be added to that average. The teams with the eight highest combined scores will qualify for the NCAA Championship.
 
UK’s three scores it will count as part of its NCAA Qualifying score are its school-record 4735 at Murray State on November 7, an impressive 4734 fired vs. Nebraska inside the UK Rifle Range on Jan. 22 and its 4713 team scored at Ole Miss on Jan. 18. The impressive scores currently place UK second in the NCAA qualifying standings.
 
Kentucky is coming off an impressive team aggregate score of 4723 which helped the Wildcats defeat No. 4 West Virginia and clinch a share of the regular-season GARC Championship. It’s the second straight season the Wildcats have earned at least a share of the conference regular-season title. This is the first time UK has earned back-to-back titles since winning the regular-season championship three-straight times from 2011 to 2013.
 
Sophomore Mary Tucker leads Kentucky this season by averaging a 591.778 in smallbore, 598 in air rifle and 1189.778 aggregate. Junior Will Shaner is averaging a 589 in smallbore, 596.222 in air rifle and 1185.222 aggregate. Tucker and Shaner are two of three shooters in the nation to score 595 in smallbore this season, while Tucker is one of three shooters with a perfect 600 in air rifle this year.
 
Junior Richard Clark is averaging a 581.889 in smallbore, 589.889 in air rifle and 1171.778 overall, while junior Mitchell Nelson is averaging a 1165.75 aggregate. Sophomores Jaden Thompson and Emmie Sellers are having good seasons with aggregate averages of 1167.333 and 1157.571, respectively. Thompson had a career match against WVU, scoring a 586 in smallbore and 595 in air rifle for an aggregate of 1181. Fellow sophomore Mason Hamilton is averaging 1149.518.
 
After this weekend’s NCAA qualifier, the Wildcats will compete in the annual GARC Championships, which will be held Feb. 27-28. The NCAA Championships will be March 12-13, inside Converse Hall in Columbus, Ohio.
 
For more information on the Kentucky rifle team, visit UKathletics.com or follow UKRifle on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.  
 

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