Holman Wins GARC Air Rifle Championship

OXFORD, Miss. Sophomore Meredith Holman broke the school record with a mark of 595 en route to the individual air rifle title at the Great America Rifle Conference Championships on Sunday. Holman’s performance helped lift Ole Miss to a fourth-place team finish at the GARC.

The Annandale, Va. native broke the school record of 592 she shared with former All-American Shannon Wilson. Holman turned in scores of 100, 99, 99, 99, 99 and 99 in her six air relays, and once in the finals, she did not let up firing a finals total of 103.2 to distance herself from second-place finisher Tom Santelli of West Virginia.

“I’m very happy and excited,” Holman said. “I have been working towards this goal all year and I’m thrilled that I was able to accomplish it.”

Boosted by Holman, the Rebels finished fourth in the team air rifle with a team aggregate of 2322. Junior Colleen Tillson and sophomore Erica Swanson both fired marks of 578 while senior Jessica Hornby rounded out the line with a score of 571. Freshman Keely Stankey also shot a mark of 575 in the air, but it did not count towards the Rebels’ team score.

“I am very excited for Meredith,” said Ole Miss head coach Valerie Boothe. “She has worked really hard and I’m glad that she gets this reward for all her time and effort. Team wise, we had a solid effort all around.”

Ole Miss moved up to fourth place in the final GARC standings with the fourth place finish in the air. The Rebels finished with a team aggregate of 4576. Kentucky won the overall team title with an aggregate score of 4650.

Holman is the Rebels’ third individual GARC champion, as Wilson took home the smallbore title last year and former All-American Jennifer Lorenzen won the combined championship in 2007.

Next up for Ole Miss is the NCAA Championships beginning Mar. 13 in Fort Worth, Texas. Individual bids will be announced next week.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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