Story by Keenan Hall
Staff writer
khall16@murraystate.edu
Murray State rifle finished in second ahead of the No. 4 ranked Ohio State University Buckeyes, but fell to match-host and No. 2 ranked West Virginia Mountaineers in a tri-match this weekend.
The Racers scored a 4679 to top the Buckeyes score of 4650. However, the Mountaineers won with a match-high 4683 score. Murray State Head Coach Alan Lollar said his team competed and fought to stay in the match even on a unique field.
“I thought we competed well,” Lollar said. The range was a little different and I think it posed some challenges for all three teams.”
The match was held on a mobile range in a coliseum ahead of the 2019 NCAA Rifle Championship.
Racer senior Barbara Schläpfer led all shooters with a aggregate 1181. Schläpfer scored 587 in smallbore and 594 in air rifle. Murray State senior Mackenzie Martin finished with 1166 aggregate, while junior Shelby Huber ended with a 1169 aggregate.
“Everyone worked hard and competed well,” Lollar said. “We were in it to the end and that’s about all you can ask. It was a good match with great competition.”
The Racers will shoot-off against the Buckeyes again Nov. 10-11 in the 2018 Buckeyes Open. Murray State will have two weeks of practice before hosting a conference foe in Jacksonville State at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 3.
This will be followed by a home match against the UT Martin at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 4 at Pat Spurgin Rifle Range in Murray.
“We did some growing this weekend,” Lollar said. “Now we have two weeks to train and get ready for JSU.”