Hornby Leads Ole Miss Rifle In Season Opener

OXFORD, Miss. Junior Jessica Hornby fired a career-best score of 574 in the smallbore to lead the Ole Miss rifle team to a fourth place finish at the season-opening Ole Miss Invitational over the weekend.

Hornby, a native of St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, bested her previous career mark in the smallbore of 568, set during her freshman season. She finished fourth in the individual smallbore behind winner Jonathan Hall, of Jacksonville State University, who posted a score of 579.

“I am very proud of Jessica,” said Ole Miss head coach Valerie Boothe. “She has really progressed well. She has been training very well and it showed in her performance.”

The Rebels finished fourth overall with a team aggregate score of 4544. Jacksonville State won the event with a team score of 4623. Ole Miss posted an air rifle score of 2286 and a smallbore score of 2258. The Rebels placed fourth and fifth as a team in the smallbore and air rifle, respectively.

“You always want to perform better than you did,” Boothe said on the team’s performance. “We have some areas we need to improve on.”

Joining Hornby in the Rebels’ smallbore attack was Shannon Wilson (569), Casey Phillips (562) and Stacie Leatherman (553). Hornby (580), Wilson (578), Phillips (567) and Leatherman (561) also comprised the Ole Miss air rifle line-up.

The Rebels also competed in the Tiger Invitational hosted by the University of Memphis. Ole Miss placed third overall at the competition with a team aggregate of 4525. They also placed second in the team smallbore with a score of 2235 and fourth in the air rifle with a mark of 2290.

Once again Hornby led the Rebel attack with a career-best mark of 591 to finish second in the individual air rifle. The mark topped her previous best of 585 set last season. Heather Tillson, of UT-Martin, won the air rifle event with a mark of 592. Also scoring for Ole Miss in the air rifle was Casey Phillips (572), Shannon Wilson (570) and Erica Swanson (557).

Hornby was also the Rebels’ top finisher with a mark of 563 in the smallbore to finish in fourth. The Rebels’ smallbore team consisted of Wilson (562), Corinne Hawkins (557) and Stacie Leatherman (553).

Next up, Ole Miss travels to Murray, Ky. for a match against Murray State on Oct. 13.

Ole Miss Results

Ole Miss Invitataional

Team

4. Ole Miss 4544

Individual Air Rifle

13. Jessica Hornby - 580

15. Shannon Wilson - 578

22. Erica Swanson - 574

27. Casey Phillips - 567

30. Meredith Holman - 565

34. Corinne Hawkins - 561

35. Stacie Leatherman 561

Individual Smallbore

4. Jessica Hornby - 574

12. Shannon Wilson - 569

19. Erica Swanson - 565

21. Casey Phillips - 562

26. Corinne Hawkins - 555

29. Stacie Leatherman - 553

38. Meredith Holman 539

Tiger Invitational

Team

3. Ole Miss 4525

Individual Air Rifle

2. Jessica Hornby 591

10. Stacie Leatherman 577

14. Casey Phillips 572

18. Shannon Wilson 570

21. Meredith Holman 567

27. Erica Swanson 557

28. Corinne Hawkins 551

Individual Smallbore

4. Jessica Hornby 563

5. Casey Phillips 563

7. Shannon Wilson 562

12. Corinne Hawkins 557

14. Meredith Holman 554

16. Stacie Leatherman 553

24. Erica Swanson 519

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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