Ole Miss Rifle Finishes Day One At GARC Championships

Feb. 25, 2006

OXFORD, Miss. - Shooting on its home range, the Ole Miss rifle team turned in a smallbore score of 2313 on day one at the Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) Championships. The Rebels currently sit in fourth place, with the air rifle competition to conclude on Sunday.

"We have improved our shooting, but we are not quite where we want to be," said Ole Miss head coach Valerie Boothe. "We left some point out there today. We can't do that tomorrow."

Ole Miss was led by the smallbore shooting of senior Megan Sandage, who turned in a score of 583. That was good enough to propel Sandage into the smallbore finals, where she placed tenth. Other smallbore scores for the Rebels included Casey Phillips (581), Shannon Wilson (576) and Jennifer Lorenzen (573).

The Rebels currently sit behind three of the teams they will face at the NCAA Championships. The defending conference champion Nebraska (2335), Army (2326) and Kentucky (2319) occupy the three spots ahead of Ole Miss.

"We wanted to use this to prepare us for the NCAA Championships," said Boothe. "This is the same level of competition we will face. We have to raise our game."

The GARC Championships will conclude tomorrow with the air rifle competition, beginning at 7 a.m. All events are held at the Patricia C. Lamar National Guard Readiness Center.

"We have proven ourselves in the air rifle," said Boothe. "Tomorrow we have to shoot like we did at the NCAA sectionals."

Ole Miss Agate

Team Smallbore

4. Ole Miss - 2313

Individual Smallbore

Megan Sandage - 583

Casey Phillips - 581

Samantha Leach - 580

Natasha Phillips - 577

Shannon Wilson - 576

Jennifer Lorenzen - 573

Mara Polonsky -569

Jessica Hornby - 555

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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