Josh Embry
Contributing Writer
jembry3@murraystate.edu
The Murray State rifle team traveled to Jacksonville, Alabama, on Saturday, Nov. 17, to compete in the first of four matches of the 2019 Gamecock Open.
The Racers began the first match of the Gamecock Open against the host team, the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. The Racers shot 2305 in smallbore and 2339 in air rifle to finish with an aggregate score of 4644.
Sophomore Anna Scheer led the Racers for the fifth-consecutive match in air rifle with 592 points and took home the top aggregate score with 1165 points. Junior Dana Buesseler led all Racers in smallbore with 580 points and was one point shy of Scheer’s aggregate score to claim the second-best score of the day for Murray State.
Senior Meike Drewell earned the third-best finish with an aggregate of 1159 and finished second in smallbore with 578. Senior Shelby Huber shot 574 in smallbore and 582 in air rifle to finish with a 1156 aggregate. Sophomore Emily Fitzgerald finished fifth in both smallbore and air rifle with scores of 572 and 577, respectively.
Head Coach Alan Lollar was pleased with his team’s performance but believes there is room for improvement.
“We had some good things today,” Lollar said. “We have some things to work on. We’re not where we are going yet, but we also aren’t where we were.”
The Racers will seek to earn their twelfth-straight victory over UT Martin this weekend. The last time these two teams faced off was on Sunday, Oct. 6, when the Racers won 4652-4593.
The match is set to begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23, at Pat Spurgin Rifle Range.