Murray State University Athletics
Racers Take Part In NCAA Championships In Alaska
3/8/2007 6:00:00 AM | Rifle
The Murray State rifle team will take part in its unprecedented 27th NCAA Championships, being held Friday and Saturday at Fairbanks, Alaska, hosted by the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.
Murray State (52-7-1) placed second in the O'Reilly Ohio Valley Conference Championships on Feb. 17, but have prepared for competition against the nation's best.
"We had good practices before we left Murray," said MSU coach Morgan Hicks, "and we've had a good practice here in Alaska. I think we're ready for whatever this weekend brings."
Other teams that qualified for the Championships are Alaska-Fairbanks, Army, OVC member Jacksonville State, Kentucky, Navy, Nebraska and Texas Christian.
Individuals who qualified but who are not members of the qualifying teams are Jennifer Lorenzen, Mississippi and Lee Lemenager and Meghann Morrill of Nevada in smallbore and Keegan Singleton of Memphis, Shannon Wilson of Mississippi, Erica Burnham of OVC member Tennessee Tech and Leah Wilcox of Texas-El Paso in air rifle.
Competition begins Friday at 7 a.m. Alaska Time (10 a.m. Central Time) with four relays of smallbore competition among the teams and individuals. The smallbore individual finals will be at 6 p.m. AT (9 p.m. CT).
Saturday begins with four relays in air rifle at 7 a.m. AT (10 a.m. CT), with the air rifle individual finals beginning at 5:30 p.m. AT (8:30 p.m. CT). The awards ceremony begins at 6:30 p.m. AT (9:30 p.m. CT), with the National Rifle Association All-American banquet beginning at 8 p.m. AT (11 p.m. CT).
Murray State is seeking its third NCAA title and its fourth national collegiate title. The Racers won the 1978 NRA collegiate title and NCAA titles in 1984 and 1987.
