Murray State University Athletics
MSU takes first OVC rifle title since 2000; JSU's DeBoy earns Coach of the Year
2/22/2004 6:00:00 AM | Rifle
Jacksonville State head coach Gerald DeBoy earned the OVC Coach of the Year award. Murray State senior Morgan Hicks earned her second straight OVC Athlete of the Year award in air Rifle to go with her third straight Athlete of the Year honor in smallbore, which she claimed yesterday.
"This is exciting," said Murray State head coach Ann Proctor. "Our shooters have worked really hard this year; they really earned this. We had a disappointing NCAA Sectionals earlier this month, so that was a motivation for us here."
The All-OVC Air Rifle Team, named today, included Hicks, Robert Purdy of Murray State, Kari Baldwin of Jacksonville State, Jaymi Collar of Tennessee-Martin and Alex Culbertson of Murray State.
The All-OVC Smallbore Team (named yesterday) included Hicks, James Hall of Jacksonville State, Purdy, Baldwin and Justin Sparks of Murray State.
Murray State was able to claim the OVC title after shooting a 1557 out of a possible 1600 in air rifle today, the best score in the competition. JSU was second in air rifle at 1534, followed by Tennessee-Martin's Mixed team at 1519, Tennessee Tech at 1518, Tennessee-Martin's Women's team at 1486, Morehead State's Men's team at 1477, Austin Peay at 1475 and Morehead State's Women's team at 1463.
Murray State led the aggregate scoring at 6202, followed by JSU at 6157, Tennessee Tech at 6099, Tennessee-Martin's Mixed team at 6017, Morehead State's Men's team at 5939 and Morehead State's Women's team at 5837. Tennessee-Martin's Women's team shot in air rifle only and had a 1486, while Austin Peay also shot in air rifle only and had a 1475.
Individually in air rifle, Hicks finished with a 395 out of a possible 400. Purdy was second at 394, followed by Baldwin at 387, Collar at 386 and Culbertson at 385.
The OVC Championships was held at the Pat Spurgin Rifle Range at Murray State's Roy Stewart Stadium.
Murray State now takes two weeks off before its next competition, a March 6 shoulder-to-shoulder (dual) match at Mississippi. The Racers will compete at Memphis on March 7 before hosting the NCAA Championships on March 11-13.
