Kyra Ledbetter
Staff writer
Two weeks after coming within three points of Alaska-Fairbanks, one of the top rifle teams in the nation, the Racer rifle team will take on another top team, in
hopes of building toward an NCAA finish.
“We really emphasize the sling positions (prone and kneeling) because we feel like we have the chance to be consistent in those,” Head Coach Alan Lollar. “But that match reconfirmed how important every point is. When you’re talking about 4,800 points and then you lose by three, it’s not hard to find those three points.”
Since the Oct. 8 loss the Racers have improved significantly, taking the two weeks off to not only make adjustments, but to get comfortable with those changes.
“It’s been going good,” Lollar said. “We’ve had two weeks that we were off that we were able to work on things that needed some attention and needed a little more time than we usually have. So it’s been a very good, useful two weeks that helped us develop. It’s a chance to change things around. During a normal week we’ve got basically four training days before a match to change something, and that’s not a whole lot of time to see if something works or for them to get comfortable with it. The last two weeks have given us that chance.”
Those changes have given Kirsten Moyer, freshman shooter on the Racer rifle team, the chance to watch her scores steadily increase.
“Things are getting progressively better,” Moyer said. “For myself in particular, my scores are going up, not the most important thing we’re looking for, but definitely a good showing of what our hard work is going toward. Everyone’s just working hard and getting through practice as best they can.”
More specifically, the Racers prone (lying down) position in smallbore left much to be desired.
“Prone wasn’t as good against Alaska as we would have expected but it’s also not what it’s going to be by the end of the year, but we have worked steadily on both sling positions since then,” Lollar said.
Murray State will head to West Virginia this Saturday to take on West Virginia University, who have already posted a score of 4,693 out of a potential 4,800. However, despite their high scores, the Mountaineers have historically been less consistent than the Racers, a fact that may help the Racers best their higher ranked foes.
“We’re still trying to decide how consistent we are,” Lollar said. “We’re working on that. In the long run we hope that being consistent is an advantage when we shoot against teams that jump around a little more, but their up and down is up and down at a very high level. And so far we’ve only had two outings, so we don’t know yet how consistent we really are.”
Moyer is hoping to get to participate in her first competition of the season after recovering from an illness.
“I feel like it’s going to be a challenge for me in particular because it will be my first competition of the season,” she said. “It’ll be kind of high intensity, but it’s good because we all kind of thrive under that.”
The next home match will be against Texas Christian University and Morehead State University at 8 a.m. on Nov. 6 in Pat Spurgin Rifle Range.