Wilson To Compete At NCAA Championships

OXFORD, Miss. Ole Miss senior Shannon Wilson has been selected to participate in the air rifle portion of NCAA Rifle Championships as an individual. It is the third time the All-American has been selected to compete in the NCAA Championships.

Wilson, a Fairfax Station, Va. native, finished 14^th in the air rifle at last year’s NCAA Championships. She owns the school record in both the air rifle (592) and smallbore (587). Wilson finished runner-up at the 2006 NCAA Championships in the smallbore and won the Great America Rifle Conference smallbore championship last week. She took home the gold medal in smallbore at the 2006 U.S. Junior Olympics and won the junior women's air rifle portion of the 3x Air and Top Gun Championships.

“It is a perfect ending to a fantastic career for Shannon,” said Ole Miss head coach Valerie Boothe. “We were disappointed that we couldn’t be there as a team, but I’m happy that Shannon received this honor. I know she will do there best to make Ole Miss proud.”

The NCAA Championships have a maximum 48 competitors. The eights teams that qualify can either be 4 or 5 person teams. If every team uses their maximum, it takes up 40 of the 48 spots, leaving 8 spots for the individuals. Individuals are selected based on their score during the designated qualifier from highest to lowest. Once the qualifying teams are determined, all of the individuals who contributed to getting their team to the championship are taken out of the mix making up the first 40 or less slots. Then the top individuals will fill up the remaining slots.  In even numbered years the advantage goes to the smallbore discipline and in odd numbered years the advantage goes to the air discipline.  The first individual slot goes to the top air rifle score for the 2008 Championships. Individuals are selected alternating between the two disciplines until all 48 slots are filled.

Army will host the championships, which will be held at the Tronsrue Marksmanship Center on the West Point campus. The smallbore competition will begin on March 14 and the air rifle will be held on March 15.

Individual Qualifiers (Smallbore Three-Position)

Michelle Bauer, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia

Michael Dickinson, Jacksonville State University

Cameron Hicks, Murray State University

Chad Jernigan, Tennessee Technological University

Kevin Witbrodt, Murray State University

Individual Qualifiers (Air Rifle)

Leslie Angeli, University of Kentucky

James Clark, Ohio State University

Kasey Meyer, Murray State University

Shannon Wilson, University of Mississippi

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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