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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Three Rifle Squad Members Compete In Junior Olympics
4/30/2003 | Rifle
April 30, 2003
OXFORD, Miss. - Spending time practicing and competing in a chosen sport in the Olympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs, Colo., isn't something many athletes will have the luxury of experiencing throughout the course of a lifetime.
But that's exactly what three members of the Ole Miss rifle team did recently. The season may officially be over, but that doesn't mean the competition ended as Samantha Leach, Megan Roberts and Megan Sandage all competed in the Junior Olympics.
Each shooter advanced to the competition by either winning the qualifying tournament in their home state, or by posting a predetermined score in an at-large tournament.
Freshman Samantha Leach, who was competing in her first Junior Olympics, said it was an amazing experience to get to be a part of an environment devoted to athletics. She added it was awe inspiring to use the same facility that some of the best athletes in the world use in training for one of the greatest collection of sporting events every four years.
"It's (competing in the Junior Olympics) definitely different, because things are serious in college, but there was such intensity there because the level of competition is so high," said Leach. "The number of great shooters at this event just pushes you to do your best.
"It was a great experience for me, and I plan on using this experience as a foundation to build on for the next season," Leach said. "Competing here adds a different experience I can draw from in shooting. It makes you tougher and shakes up the routine you get in shooting on the collegiate level because this is the best of the best."
Ole Miss' Megan Sandage became the first player to advance to the finals at the Junior Olympics.  | |
Megan Sandage continued her hot shooting from the season, advancing to the finals of the competition with a score of 382-389-771. The freshman from Sutter, Calif., continued to perform well and finished the meet with a seventh-place finish out of 91 entrants. Sandage earned a spot on the All-Star team with her air rifle performance.
She performed well in the smallbore competition as well, firing an 1114 to place 20th overall in the standings.
Sophomore Megan Roberts finished in the top 20 of the meet, firing a 378-389-767 in two rounds of competition to lock down an 18th-place finish for the weekend. In smallbore, the Oxford, Miss., native finished 36th in the standings with a score of 1100.
Samantha Leach, another freshman on the squad, nailed down a 35th-place finish in the air rifle competition, scoring a 375-381-756 in the two rounds of shooting. In smallbore, the Orlando, Fla., native finished with a score of 1098 to take 41st overall.
"This was a fantastic experience for these three young ladies," said head coach Valerie Boothe. "You have to shoot at such a high level at this competition. It's quite an accomplishment just to be in the event. It will get these athletes ready for the big time meets like the NCAAs."
This is the third year Ole Miss has had at least one shooter qualify for the Junior Olympics. Senior and team captain Maranda Stockton competed in 1999, while sophomore Shanda Duval participated in 2002.
