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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rifle Team Opens at Austin Peay Invitational
6/21/1999 | Rifle
October 2, 1998
OXFORD, Miss. -- The Ole Miss women's rifle team begins its third season of competition Saturday at the Austin Peay Invitational in Clarksville, Tenn. The tournament begins at 8 a.m.
The Lady Rebels return only one letterwinner from last year's squad, junior Jessica Crockett of Brown Deer, Wis. Crockett averaged 342 out of a possible 400 last year and fired a career-high 363 in the NCAA Collegiate Sectional.
"Jessica is a hard worker, and I expect her to be a strong leader this year," Ole Miss head coach Valerie Boothe said. "She wasn't far behind our leader, Kimberly Hickey, in scoring average last year."
The only other shooter remaining from the 1997-98 team is Cinnamon Pugh, a senior from Louisville, Miss., who did not compete in any matches after joining the team at mid-season.
Boothe added two of the top junior shooters in Mississippi to the team this year, freshmen Jill Barnes of Jackson, Miss., and Jennifer McKinney of West Point, Miss. Barnes and McKinney have both recorded personal bests of 340 in the air rifle.
Samantha Ball, a junior from New Albany, Miss.; Etoya James, a junior from Mound Bayou, Miss.; and Tiffani Norman, a senior from Little Rock, Ark., also joined the team this year.
Ole Miss enjoyed its first winning season last year with a 4-3 record in dual matches. The Lady Rebels fired a 1441 in the NCAA Collegiate Sectional, the highest total in Ole Miss history, and finished eighth in the tournament.