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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Saturday, February 23
Akron, Ohio
7:15 AM
Ole Miss
vs
GARC Championships
Ole Miss Rifle Concludes Season at GARC Championships
2/23/2019 | Rifle
<i class="icon-stats"></i> Team Aggregate <i class="icon-stats"></i> Team Air Rifle<i class="icon-stats"></i> Team Smallbore<i class="icon-stats"></i> Individual Air Rifle<i class="icon-stats"></i> Individual Smallbore
Rebels end two-day event with 4648 points Saturday
AKRON, Ohio – Ole Miss Rifle ended the season in sixth-place at the Great America Rifle Conference Championships inside the University of Akron's Stile Athletics Field House. Friday featured smallbore and air rifle concluded the competition Saturday.
Ole Miss finished with 4648 points after earning 2302 in smallbore and 2346 in air rifle. The match was closely contested like the regular season as teams two through seven were separated by 19 points.
West Virginia won their 10th straight GARC title with 4715 points. The Mountaineers swept the individual titles. The two-time defending NCAA champion Morgan Phillips won in smallbore and 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist Ginny Thrasher took home air rifle honors.
The future should continue to bring excitement for Ole Miss Rifle as four of the team's top-five scorers were underclassmen on Saturday.
Freshman Erin Walsh continued to lead the way with a 590 in air rifle. It was the third time this season she reached the 590s, and her 1170 aggregate total was just one point off a career-high. On Friday, Walsh finished tied for ninth with a 580 in smallbore, falling just short of the finals in both events.
Junior Alana Kelly was Ole Miss' second-highest scorer Saturday, as a non-counter. She tallied a career-high 589 and matched her aggregate best of 1165.
Rookie Jillian Zakrzeski continued her consistent season with a 588 in air rifle and 575 in smallbore. Additionally, Zakrzeski secured at least an 1160 aggregate for the 12th time in 14 matches this season.
Rounding out the scoring on Saturday were sophomore Abby Buesseler (587) and senior Harley Gardner (581). Sophia Cuozzo (586), Hayley Carroll (576), and Randi Loudin (574) also competed.
Gardner and Loudin ended their Ole Miss careers on Saturday, helping the Rebels earn 17 of the top-18 scores in program history the last two seasons.
Marsha's Minute…
On the close competition…
"As predicted the conference championships were very close. In today's air rifle match West Virginia was out in front, but the remaining eight teams were within 20 points of each other. Our overall score, which combined today's air rifle with yesterday's smallbore was 4648. In the combined we placed sixth in the conference, but were just 18 points out of second place.
On Alana Kelly and Erin Walsh…
I was delighted to see Alana Kelly turn in a personal best in air rifle. Her combined score, for smallbore and air rifle tied her personal best of 1165. Erin Walsh had an 1170 in the combined event, just one point off her personal best. Both Alana and Erin have been strong for us all semester."
On reflecting on the season…
"This was the last college match for our seniors, Harley Gardner and Randi Loudin. Both were great teammates and we will miss them. Really, we had a very good group this year. I very much enjoyed working with the team. They worked exceptionally hard and made good progress. Assistant coach JP Lucas and I are sad to see the season end, but are already planning for next year and looking forward to it."
Total Aggregate - 4648
Smallbore – 2302 (Friday)
*Counter
^Score used in tiebreaker
Air Rifle – 2346 (Saturday)
*Counter
For more information on Ole Miss Rifle, follow the Rebels on Facebook (OleMissRifle), Twitter (@OleMissRifle), Instagram (@OleMissRifle), and at olemisssports.com.
Ole Miss finished with 4648 points after earning 2302 in smallbore and 2346 in air rifle. The match was closely contested like the regular season as teams two through seven were separated by 19 points.
West Virginia won their 10th straight GARC title with 4715 points. The Mountaineers swept the individual titles. The two-time defending NCAA champion Morgan Phillips won in smallbore and 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist Ginny Thrasher took home air rifle honors.
The future should continue to bring excitement for Ole Miss Rifle as four of the team's top-five scorers were underclassmen on Saturday.
Freshman Erin Walsh continued to lead the way with a 590 in air rifle. It was the third time this season she reached the 590s, and her 1170 aggregate total was just one point off a career-high. On Friday, Walsh finished tied for ninth with a 580 in smallbore, falling just short of the finals in both events.
Junior Alana Kelly was Ole Miss' second-highest scorer Saturday, as a non-counter. She tallied a career-high 589 and matched her aggregate best of 1165.
Rookie Jillian Zakrzeski continued her consistent season with a 588 in air rifle and 575 in smallbore. Additionally, Zakrzeski secured at least an 1160 aggregate for the 12th time in 14 matches this season.
Rounding out the scoring on Saturday were sophomore Abby Buesseler (587) and senior Harley Gardner (581). Sophia Cuozzo (586), Hayley Carroll (576), and Randi Loudin (574) also competed.
Gardner and Loudin ended their Ole Miss careers on Saturday, helping the Rebels earn 17 of the top-18 scores in program history the last two seasons.
Marsha's Minute…
On the close competition…
"As predicted the conference championships were very close. In today's air rifle match West Virginia was out in front, but the remaining eight teams were within 20 points of each other. Our overall score, which combined today's air rifle with yesterday's smallbore was 4648. In the combined we placed sixth in the conference, but were just 18 points out of second place.
On Alana Kelly and Erin Walsh…
I was delighted to see Alana Kelly turn in a personal best in air rifle. Her combined score, for smallbore and air rifle tied her personal best of 1165. Erin Walsh had an 1170 in the combined event, just one point off her personal best. Both Alana and Erin have been strong for us all semester."
On reflecting on the season…
"This was the last college match for our seniors, Harley Gardner and Randi Loudin. Both were great teammates and we will miss them. Really, we had a very good group this year. I very much enjoyed working with the team. They worked exceptionally hard and made good progress. Assistant coach JP Lucas and I are sad to see the season end, but are already planning for next year and looking forward to it."
Total Aggregate - 4648
Smallbore – 2302 (Friday)
| Erin Walsh* | 580 |
| Alana Kelly | 576 |
| Jillian Zakrzeski* | 575 |
| Harley Gardner* | 574 |
| Abby Buesseler* | 573 |
| Randi Loudin^ | 570 |
| Sophia Cuozzo | 567 |
| Hayley Carroll | 566 |
^Score used in tiebreaker
Air Rifle – 2346 (Saturday)
| Erin Walsh* | 590 |
| Alana Kelly | 589 |
| Jillian Zakrzeski* | 588 |
| Abby Buesseler* | 587 |
| Sophia Cuozzo | 586 |
| Harley Gardner* | 581 |
| Hayley Carroll | 576 |
| Randi Loudin | 574 |
For more information on Ole Miss Rifle, follow the Rebels on Facebook (OleMissRifle), Twitter (@OleMissRifle), Instagram (@OleMissRifle), and at olemisssports.com.
Players Mentioned
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