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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
NCAA Collegiate Sectional
Rifle Squad Narrowly Misses Cut At NCAA Secitonals
2/16/2003 | Rifle
Feb. 10, 2003
MURRAY, Ky. - The Ole Miss rifle team finished sixth at the NCAA Sectional over the weekend behind a solid shooting performance in air rifle, narrowly missing the scoring needed to qualify for the school's first appearance in the NCAA Championships.
The Rebels were led by freshman Megan Sandage and a career-outing from freshman Samantha Leach overall in the competition. Sandage fired an 1146 in smallbore and a 383 in air rifle. Leach fired an 1121 in smallbore and a career-high 385 in air rifle to pace the team for the event.
"I was very impressed with the way Samantha Leach responded to the challenge," said head coach Valerie Boothe. "She has shown marked improvement every day since coming to Ole Miss and for her to go out and lead the team this weekend was a great accomplishment for her.
"We shot well in air rifle, pacing a little above our average, but we didn't do ourselves any favors in smallbore," Boothe continued. "If each shooter raises their score a few points we are likely sitting at the NCAA's for the first time. Luckily we have one more outing with the conference championship so we can go out on a good note." Shanda Duval fired an 1131 in smallbore and a 382 in air rifle.
Kristin Parker also competed for the scoring squad for the Rebels, firing an 1108 in smallbore and a 373 in air rifle to close out the point scoring for Ole Miss.
Laura Gavin and Maranda Stockton competed as individual shooters at the meet, tallying scores but not counting them toward the point total for Ole Miss. Gavin fired an 1107 in smallbore to go along with a 368 in air rifle. Stockton, the team captain and lone senior, scored a 374 in air rifle, and did not compete in smallbore.
Ole Miss will close out the season at the Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio, February 21-23. The tournament is being hosted by conference member Xavier University.
TEAM SCORES Smallbore Air Rifle Total1. Kentucky-Blue 4645 1555 62002. Murray State 4623 1555 61783. Jacksonville State-Red 4621 1550 71714. Tennessee Tech 4625 1541 61665. Kentucky-White 4537 1524 60616. OLE MISS 4506 1523 60297. Jacksonville State-White 4472 1494 59668. Tennessee-Martin 4370 1507 58779. Memphis 4350 1507 585710. Tennessee-Martin (ROTC) 4205 1465 567011. Austin Peay - 1456 145612. Arkansas - 1392 139213. Saint Louis - 1355 135514. Alabama-Birmingham - 1263 1263
INDIVIDUAL SCORES Smallbore Air Rifle TotalMegan Sandage 1146 383 1529Shanda Duval 1131 382 1513Samantha Leach 1121 385 1506Kristin Parker 1108 373 1481Laura Gavin* 1107 368 1475Maranda Stockton* - 374 374*Competed as individuals
