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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
GARC Championships
Rifle Finishes Fourth At GARC Championships
3/1/2004 | Rifle
March 1, 2004
WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Ole Miss rifle team suffered through a fourth-place finish at the annual Great American Rifle Championships over the weekend. The Rebels shot a 4,519 in smallbore and 1,516 in air rifle for an aggregate of 6,035. Kentucky won the competition by firing a combined score of 6,184, while Army took second with a 6,170 and Xavier finished third with a 6,144.
Freshman Jennifer Lorenzen led Ole Miss in smallbore with an individual total of 1,158, which was just two points shy of the eight-year-old school record. Freshman Mara Polonsky and sophomore Megan Sandage both posted scores of 1,122, while sophomore Laura Gavin turned in a 1,117.
In air rifle, Polonsky fired a 386, while Sandage recorded a 381, Lorenzen a 375 and sophomore Samantha Leach a 374. Polonsky's total vaulted her to the conference air rifle finals.
"We had a very good week of practice and felt like some of the momentum was shifting in our direction," Ole Miss head coach Valerie Boothe said. "With some of that positive energy building, I had hoped that we'd do a little better as a team. We continue to get some solid individual efforts, but all season long we have had difficulty converting those individual accomplishments into success as a team.
"While we will never use our youthfulness as an excuse, I think this was a different experience for most of the girls. We are a very young team and our performance is sometimes affected by these types of unfamiliar situations. Our girls hadn't shot on this range, and, unfortunately, that was just one of the many factors that contributed to our lower-than-anticipated scores. It may be a little frustrating now, but, in the long run, I know our program will benefit from these types of experiences."
The Rebels wrap up their 2003-04 season Saturday against Murray State in Oxford.
TEAM SCORES SB AR TOTAL1. Kentucky 4637-1547--61842. Army 4624-1546--61703. Xavier 4619-1525--61444. OLE MISS 4519-1516--6035
OLE MISS INDIVIDUAL SCORES SB AR TOTALJennifer Lorenzen (Fr.) 1158-375---1533Mara Polonsky (Fr.) 1122-386---1508Megan Sandage (So.) 1122-381---1503Laura Gavin (So.) 1117-------1117Samantha Leach (So.) -----374---374
Note: On Friday, Megan Sandage was named to the All-GARC honorable mention list for air rifle. The selection was based on her air rifle average during 2003-04 regular season conference matches. Sandage turned in a season-best of 386 Feb. 8 at Memphis. Her career-high of 391 -- set Oct. 26, 2002 -- established a new school record which still stands today.
