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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rifle Team Hosts Season Opener
10/29/1999 | Rifle
Oct. 29, 1999
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss rifle team opens its 1999-2000 season Sunday in a four-team meet with Austin Peay, Memphis and Arkansas-Little Rock. Action begins at 9 a.m. at the University rifle range. The Lady Rebels will shoot at 1 p.m.
With only one returning letterwinner a year ago, Ole Miss had to rely on young shooters in 1998-99, posting a 3-3 dual match record. The result is a nice core of talent this season with three established shooters in the lineup.
"It seems like we started with a deficit, but I was pleased with how the team performed," said head coach Valerie Boothe, who is beginning her fourth year as Ole Miss coach. "I feel we will have a stronger program this year. Although the squad is not large, we are physically stronger, have greater depth of talent, and have more seasoned shooters."
Perhaps the most talented is sophomore Jill Barnes, who last year turned in the finest season in the program's four-year history. A native of Jackson, Miss., Barnes led Ole Miss in nine of the 11 events and posted the best average yet by a Lady Rebel. In the NCAA Sectional, she fired a 377 to break the school record for highest tournament total and lead the Lady Rebels to a ninth-place finish.
Ole Miss begins the season ranked 31st in the nation, and with Barnes and Jessica Crockett returning, could be moving up. Crockett, a senior from Brown Deer, Wis., has been on the team since its creation and was voted team captain for this season. She has improved her average each year and last season, was second on the squad in average.
"Jessica is one of my most seasoned athletes in collegiate rifle competition," Boothe said. "She knows what level of performance is expected and will work hard to achieve it."
Also competing for the Lady Rebels will be Samantha Ball and Miranda Stockton. Ball, a junior from New Albany, Miss., was in her first year of rifle competition last year and improved throughout the season, twice placing in the team's top four. Stockton is Ole Miss' lone newcomer. The freshman from Livingston, Tenn., was one of the top junior shooters in Tennessee and boasts a personal best of 372.
Sophomore Spring Bishop rejoins the squad, however, will not compete this season while trying to rebuild her average following an injury. Bishop was not a member of the team last year, but two years ago she had an outstanding season, leading the team in five events and finishing a close second in average.
