Kelby ZendejasThe Ole Miss rifle team started off its 2020-2021 season with a bang, setting a personal-best aggregate score of 4,730 after its victory over UT Martin and breaking the NCAA record for team smallbore with a score of 2,361.
“The team has been working really hard, and we’ve been seeing some great things in practice, but of course, performing in a match can be quite different,” UM head coach Marsha Beasley said. “I am excited at how well things came together for us today.”
With a full day of record-setting, freshman Lea Horvath fired an aggregate score of 1,189, surpassing a previous record set by senior Abby Buesseler in 2019. Sophomore Kristen Derting also surpassed the previous record, firing a personal-best aggregate score of 1,185. Adding another career-high to the scoresheets was sophomore Claire O’Neel, who scored a 1,182.
Also in smallbore, the top eight performers were all Rebels with Derting passing alumni Alison Weisz’s score of 589 with a whopping 594. Derting’s score is tied for the ninth-best in NCAA history. Buesseler rounded out the Rebels with a 586.
In air rifle, the Rebels secured a score of 2,369, the second-highest air rifle score in program history. The top four performers in air rifle were also Rebels, with Horvath shooting a 596 and O’Neel following her with a 594 to tie her previous career-best set last season.
The Rebels will travel to Memphis on Oct. 17 for the GARC with their first competition against the Tigers. The match is set to begin at 9 a.m.
