Staff Report
Two members of the shooting team at practice. The team returns to Murray for a tournament Jan. 23.
The long Winter Break didn’t cool off the barrels of the Murray State Rifle Team. They came away victories in a tri-match with No. 8 Nebraska and No. 16 Mississippi Saturday at the Patricia C. Lamar National Guard Readiness Center in Oxford, Mississippi.
The No. 2 ranked Racers finished with a score of 4687 to edge Nebraska’s final score of 4672. The Rebels came in a close third with 4593 points. The Racers scored 2319 in smallbore and 2368 in air rifle.
“We’ve had one match and I thought they did a good job,” said Head Coach Alan Lollar. “We’re back to work and some of it wasn’t our best and some of it wasn’t our worst. It was normal for the holidays.”
Murray State’s Ivan Roe, sophomore from Manhattan, Montana, paced the Racers with 581 points in smallbore and a score of 595 in air rifle. His 595 points tied his career high. Roe’s total of 1176 was the high score for the day.
Roe wasn’t the only Racer setting personal records in the win as Alathea Sellars, freshman from Puryear, Tennessee, had a career-high 583 in smallbore and 590 in air rifle for an aggregate score of 1173.
“Ivan has been doing a great job,” said Head Coach Alan Lollar.
Roe will be in Europe competing with the USA Shooting team for about a week, according to Lollar.
MacKenzie Martin, freshman from Fairhaven, Massachusetts, took second behind Roe with a final score of 1175. Tessa Howald, senior from Ozark, Missouri, scored 1169 and Barbara Schlapfer, freshman from Gais, Switzerland, finished at 1167. Ben Estes, sophomore from Ozark, Missouri, finished with 1160 and Robert Broadstreet, sophomore from Ozark, Missouri scored 569 in smallbore and 586 in air rifle with a score of 1155.
Lollar said he looks for consistency in every match. He looks for the athletes to shoot they way they train every day.
Barbara Schläpfer, freshman from Gais, Switzerland kneels during a fall match at home.
“I expect that they are shooting the best shot they can shoot,” Lollar said. “The only people they can be is their own best. That’s what we always expect from each of them and that doesn’t ever change.”
Murray State returns home at 9 a.m. Saturday for the 2016 Withrow Invitational at the Pat Spurgin Rifle Range. Junior shooters will be in attendance along with University of Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Tennessee State, Nebraska, Memphis, Ole Miss and UT Martin.
Entering the rest of the season, Lollar said his biggest goal is to simply shoot the way they do in practice.
“I am happy if we can shoot matches the way we train,” Lollar said. “If we train at the level we can meet then we can carry it into matches. We can’t stop another team but they can’t stop us from shooting good. If we can train well enough and carry that into a match I can’t ask for anything better if they can do in a match what they do in practice.”