The University of Memphis rifle team wrapped up the regular season over the weekend against No. 8 Ole Miss. The match went down to the wire but the Tigers fell to the Rebels by two points on aggregate (4650-4648).
Matt Dorey was the top individual for either team, with an aggregate score of 1169. Leighton Dempster led the way for the Tigers in the air rifle discipline, with a score of 592. Dorey and Levi Clark both scored 580 in the smallbore discipline, which was the second highest of the match.
The Tigers’ 4648 aggregate last weekend was the third highest score of the season. The high road aggregate scores have been a trend this season for the Tigers. Memphis’ away aggregate average is 4640.8, compared to Memphis’ home aggregate score of 4610.6.
The squad shot a season-high 4664 aggregate in a match at Texas Christian University on Oct. 28. Memphis posted their second highest aggregate of the season (4650) at Kentucky on Jan. 27. The week before the Kentucky match, at the Withrow Invitational, the Tigers shot a 4646, their fourth-best aggregate of the season.
The match against the Rebels marked the Tigers’ fourth straight road match. The last time the Tigers competed at the Memphis Rifle Facility was in November against NCAA defending champion West Virginia.
The Tigers head into this weekend’s NCAA Qualifier ranked as the No. 16 team in the nation, according to the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association poll.
The qualifier takes place Feb. 17, in Murray, Kentucky, with a chance to qualify for the Great American Rifle Conference Championships. If the Tigers shoot well at the GARCC, they have a chance to send individual shooters to the NCAA Championships in March.
“I think we all have our heads in the right place, and we enjoy the process,” senior Eli Rischling said. “It is really important on how you finish, so we are all working hard every day to get better. Everyone is really grinding to finish well in the last match and be positive heading into the NCAA Qualifier.”
The Memphis Tiger Rifle team posted a fourth-place finish at the 2018 Winthrow Invitational. The Tigers spent the fall at their new facilitates, but this is the first spring season for the new Memphis Rifle Facility.
Adriana Hickerson helped Memphis Rifle post an aggregate score of 4650 against No.3 Kentucky. That score was the second highest total of the 2017 season.
