(Left to Right) Sophomore Ethan Marne kneels while senior Katie Fretts and Freshman Luke South stand and shoot during the NCAA Rifle Championship qualifiers. in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday, February, 16, 2013. Photo by James Holt | Staff
By Kyle Arensdorf | @KyKernelSports
The UK rifle team will compete in the Great American Rifle Conference Championships this weekend at the Patricia C. Lamar National Guard Readiness Center in Oxford, Miss.
After winning their third straight GARC Regular Season Championship over top-ranked West Virginia, the Cats stayed hot, besting the field in the NCAA National Championship Qualifiers last weekend to earn a spot in the eight-team National Championship.
After the qualifiers, UK head coach Harry Mullins was looking forward to the Conference Championships.
“We’re excited to compete in the GARC Championships this weekend,” Mullins said to UK Athletics. “The setup is similar to the NCAA Championships so I think it will be good preparation for us.”
Joining the Cats in the field are fellow NCAA Rifle National Championship qualifiers Army, Nebraska and West Virginia, as well as N.C. State, Memphis and host-team Ole Miss.
Rounding out the tournament in the eight-spot as a guest and future GARC member (effective next season) is Navy.
Led by All-American senior Henri Junghänel, UK will begin championship play at noon Friday with individual smallbore.
Competition will resume Saturday with team smallbore at 7 a.m., individual air rifle at 8:30 a.m. and team smallbore finals at 5:30 p.m.
The championship will conclude Sunday with team air rifle at 8 a.m. and air rifle team finals at 12:45 p.m.
Go Cats!!! You can do it!!