Barrett FreemanThe Rebel rifle team continued its historic season by defeating the Memphis Tigers on Saturday, Feb. 13 with a final score of 4,734-4,693. The victory marked the team’s 10th win of the season, which is the first time the team has achieved the feat.
The records set on Saturday don’t stop there. In smallbore, the team shot a score of 2,524, the second-best score in team history and fifth best for the NCAA this season. The Rebels also broke the program record with 2,380 in air rifle.
“I am so impressed with how this team just keeps getting better,” head coach Marsha Beasley said. “Everyone is working exceptionally hard, and each week, a few more pieces seem to come together for us. Today it showed in the total score and a new school record. I was also really happy to see our depth. We had eight shooters above 590 in air rifle and six above the 580 mark in smallbore, a truly impressive accomplishment for our team.”
In smallbore, freshman Lea Horvath continued her strongseason, shooting a score of 1,189. In addition, senior Abby Buesseler and sophomore Kristen Derting gave strong performances of 1,181 each.
Junior teammate Erin Walsh decided to post the same score as the duo, setting a new personal best.
With a 33-point advantage, the Rebels didn’t slow down heading into air rifle. Freshman Martina Gratz shattered her career high posting a 596. Buesseler used two perfect scores of 100 to lift her way right behind Gratz with a final score of 594, with Derting right behind her with a score of 593. One point behind Derting was Walsh, and then junior Jillian Zakrzeski finished it off for the team with a 590.
Horvath showed out in air rifle just as much as in smallbore, almost firing a perfect score by rattling off perfect 10s on her first 59 shots.
The team looks forward to this upcoming weekend when the Rebels will compete for a spot in the NCAA Qualifier round against Jacksonville State in Oxford. The Rebels will also compete this weekend against Army virtually for their final regular-season match.
