Peiser Shines in Smallbore, Rifle in Second After Day 1

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Freshman Braden Peiser put together one of the most impressive smallbore performances in program history Saturday, finishing third in the individual smallbore final as the University of Kentucky rifle team posted a smallbore aggregate of 2350 to sit second after day one of competition at the Great America Rifle Conference Championships in West Point, New York.

The two-day event will mainly feature air rifle Sunday although non-team countable individual performers will compete in both disciplines. Competition Sunday is scheduled to begin at approximately 8 a.m. ET with an eight-finalist individual format to follow. Army, Akron, Memphis, Navy, Ole Miss and West Virginia will join UK at the event. Army is hosting the event inside the Tronsrue Marksmanship Center. Live stats will be available ukathletics.com.

Kentucky posted a smallbore team score of 2350 on Saturday, which is its third-best smallbore team score the season. WVU leads all teams after the first day, posting a 2366 in smallbore. Memphis is third after a 2341 smallbore, while Ole Miss is fourth at 2340, Navy fifth at 2331, Akron sixth at 2334 and Army seventh at 2329.

“Very proud of some of the things we saw today, especially an incredible performance by Braden, he was just fun to watch,” UK head coach Harry Mullins said. “We will make a few adjustments tonight and then look forward to getting back out there tomorrow and seeing if we can post a big air rifle score.”

Peiser was the star for Kentucky in the first day of competition, posting an impressive 597 smallbore score, which is a new career high for the freshman and tied the highest smallbore score in the nation this season. The strong score is a new record inside the Tronsrue Marksmanship Rank. Peiser’s previous career high was 593, which he shot last week during NCAA Qualifiers. The high mark earned Peiser a spot in the smallbore individual final, where he would take home third place.

Fifth-year senior Jaden Thompson posted an impressive 587 to finish second on the team, while sophomore Sofia Ceccarello and fifth-year senior Emmie Sellers finished third on the squad with 583s. Sophomore Martin Voss wrapped up the countable performers with a 577. Freshman AJ Hotko and junior Allison Buesseler each competed in smallbore Saturday with Hotko scoring a 577 and Buesseler a 578.

For more information on the Kentucky rifle team, visit UKathletics.com or follow UKRifle on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.