2008 Woodie Awards
Husker rifle leads in smallbore, flounders in air rifle at GARC
Kat Ladwig
Issue date: 2/26/08 Section: Sports
The Nebraska rifle team finished in fourth place out of eight teams at the Great American Rifle Conference Championships this weekend in Oxford, Miss.
In the smallbore competition on Saturday, sophomore Amanda Jeffries came out strong for the Cornhuskers with a mark of 584, only two points behind the top score overall. Following with a solid 577 was senior Kirsten Weiss, followed by sophomore Christine Costello and freshman Elisha LaFond with scores of 574 and 571, respectively.
As a team, it was the strongest showing this season in smallbore with a total of 2,305 points.
In Sunday's air rifle match, the Huskers ended with a point total of 2,306. Leading the way was LaFond with a score of 585 and Jeffries next in line, shooting a 584.
"It was a bittersweet weekend for us," Coach Morgan Hicks said. "We had our team best in smallbore, but then air rifle just killed us."
NU sophomore Christine Costello attributed the low air rifle score to the pressure that came with doing so well the day before in smallbore.
"A lot of it was mental struggles," Costello said. "In air rifle, it's the same position and technique over and over. We just need to focus on recovering after a bad shot."
The teams' difficulty between the two categories has reversed since the first half of the season, where Nebraska was more successful in air rifle. Hicks said the team has been working hard in practice to correct the smallbore performance, and now it's the other half that is suffering.
"I've made some changes and no matter what, we just can't get it all together," Hicks said.
Though the Huskers didn't clinch the GARC title this weekend, Hicks was satisfied with fourth place. Since it was the conference championship, there were eight team competing, including Army, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ole Miss, Memphis, N.C. State and Xavier. Nebraska ended the weekend behind Army with 4,651, and Kentucky and West Virginia with 4,633 and 4,626, respectively.
"It was like a mini-NCAA tournament for us," Hicks said. "Our conference is pretty big with good teams, so it was good practice."
Up next for NU will be the NCAA Championships, should they be selected to attend. It is comprised of the top eight teams in the nation based on season averages which are yet to be determined. The official announcement of teams is expected to be released later this week.
KATLADWIG@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM
In the smallbore competition on Saturday, sophomore Amanda Jeffries came out strong for the Cornhuskers with a mark of 584, only two points behind the top score overall. Following with a solid 577 was senior Kirsten Weiss, followed by sophomore Christine Costello and freshman Elisha LaFond with scores of 574 and 571, respectively.
As a team, it was the strongest showing this season in smallbore with a total of 2,305 points.
In Sunday's air rifle match, the Huskers ended with a point total of 2,306. Leading the way was LaFond with a score of 585 and Jeffries next in line, shooting a 584.
"It was a bittersweet weekend for us," Coach Morgan Hicks said. "We had our team best in smallbore, but then air rifle just killed us."
NU sophomore Christine Costello attributed the low air rifle score to the pressure that came with doing so well the day before in smallbore.
"A lot of it was mental struggles," Costello said. "In air rifle, it's the same position and technique over and over. We just need to focus on recovering after a bad shot."
The teams' difficulty between the two categories has reversed since the first half of the season, where Nebraska was more successful in air rifle. Hicks said the team has been working hard in practice to correct the smallbore performance, and now it's the other half that is suffering.
"I've made some changes and no matter what, we just can't get it all together," Hicks said.
Though the Huskers didn't clinch the GARC title this weekend, Hicks was satisfied with fourth place. Since it was the conference championship, there were eight team competing, including Army, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ole Miss, Memphis, N.C. State and Xavier. Nebraska ended the weekend behind Army with 4,651, and Kentucky and West Virginia with 4,633 and 4,626, respectively.
"It was like a mini-NCAA tournament for us," Hicks said. "Our conference is pretty big with good teams, so it was good practice."
Up next for NU will be the NCAA Championships, should they be selected to attend. It is comprised of the top eight teams in the nation based on season averages which are yet to be determined. The official announcement of teams is expected to be released later this week.
KATLADWIG@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM
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