Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Newkirk Invitational
Rifle Wins Newkirk Invitational
1/21/2008 6:00:00 AM | Rifle
The Murray State rifle team placed first in smallbore and second in air rifle, shooting an aggregate (overall) score of 4615 to win the Newkirk Invitational, held Jan. 19-20 at Cookeville, Tenn.
The Racers fired a 2299 out of a possible 2400 in smallbore, 20 points better than Jacksonville State, then shot a 2316 out of a possible 2400 in air rifle, just six points behind JSU. Jacksonville State was second with an aggregate score of 4601. Host Tennessee Tech was third with an air rifle score of 2301 and a smallbore score of 2225 for an aggregate of 4526, while Memphis was fourth with a 2291 in air rifle and a 2220 in smallbore for an aggregate of 4511, and North Carolina State was fifth with a 2233 in air rifle and a 2218 in smallbore for an aggregate of 4451.
Kevin Witbrodt had a 587 out of a possible in air rifle, second-best among all shooters, and a 577 out of a possible 600 in smallbore, also second-best among all shooters, to finish with a tournament-best aggregate of 1164 out of a possible 1200. Dan Belluzzo fired a 584 in air rifle, tying for third among the 39 shooters, and had a 576 in smallbore, also third among all shooters, to finish with an aggregate of 1160, second-best among all scoring shooters. Cameron Hicks shot a 576 in air rifle and a 572 in smallbore to finish with an aggregate of 1148. Kasey Meyer shot a 569 in air rifle, while Harley Jette had a 574 in smallbore to complete Murray State's scoring.
Among non-scoring shooters, Erica Meese had a 574 in air rifle and a 564 in smallbore to finish with an aggregate of 1138, which would have placed ninth among the scoring shooters. Jette fired a 550 in air rifle, while Meyer had a 563 in smallbore.
"They did very well, especially considering it was the first competition since the Christmas break," said MSU interim coach Alan Lollar. "I was very pleased with our air rifle score, as well as the improvement with some of our shooters."
Murray State will next compete at the UT Martin Invitational on Jan. 24, then will host the annual Roger Withrow Invitational on Jan. 25-27 at the Pat Spurgin Rifle Range at MSU's Stewart Stadium.
