Junior Ivan Roe of the Murray State rifle team broke the school’s individual air rifle record, as the third-ranked Racers fell to second-ranked West Virginia, 4726-4713 at the University of Kentucky Rifle Range in Lexington, Kentucky.
Roe shot a 587 in smallbore, before shooting a near-perfect 598 in air rifle to finish with the match’s top aggregate score at 1185. The air rifle record preciously belonged to Alathea Sellars and Robert Broadstreet, as each shot a 597 at separate matches earlier this year.
Sophomore MacKenzie Martin tied Roe’s 587 in smallbore and shot personal best of 596 in air rifle to end the day with a career-best aggregate of 1183. Junior Ben Estes used a 585 smallbore and a 587 air rifle to end the day 1172, while sophomore Barbara Schläpfer shot a 581 in smallbore and a 588 in air rifle for a total of 1169. Sellars had an 1164 on the day after a 573 smallbore and a 591 air rifle and Broadstreet had an 1160 with a 574 smallbore and a 586 air rifle.
The 4713 did raise Murray State’s three-score average used in NCAA qualifying, however West Virginia’s 4726 raised its average as well, keeping the Mountaineers in second and the Racers in third in the race to be one of eight teams selected for the 2017 NCAA Championships.
The Racers will return to Pat Spurgin Rifle Range one final time next Sunday for the annual NCAA Qualifier against No. 8 Nebraska.
by Parker Griffith