Murray State University Athletics
Hicks Takes Gold At Rio World Cup
3/30/2008 5:00:00 AM | Rifle
Morgan Hicks, a 2004 Murray State graduate, earned her first-ever World Cup medal, taking the gold on Friday in the 50-meter three-position rifle competition at the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.
Hicks was a four-year shooter on the MSU rifle team (2000-04), earning eight All-American honors and the 2004 NCAA air rifle title. She served as the assistant coach after graduation for one season, then became the head coach for Racer rifle from 2005 to 2007. Last summer, she took the head coaching position with the Nebraska rifle team and guided the Huskies to a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
Hicks took part in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, placing 12th in the smallbore competition. She has her sights set on the 2008 Games in Beijing, and will compete in the Olympic tryouts in May.
In Rio, Hicks finished in first place with a total score of 677.9 points, shooting a 581 out of a possible 600 in the qualification round and earning 96.9 points in the final round. She was joined on the medals podium by Lidija Mihajlovic of Serbia and Annik Marguet of Switzerland.
According to the release issued by USA Shooting, Danish shooter Charlotte Jakobsen entered the qualification round with the highest score of 583 points, but finished the final round in last place after a series of disappointing shots. Hicks was able to overtake her after a few final shots, and eventually closed the match with the win.
"I'm so excited to have won this medal!" Hicks said. "I still can't believe that I did it. The whole match, I had to keep telling myself to just take it one shot at a time and not to think about the score or the possible outcome. It paid off, and I was able to take the gold! I am going to keep training hard and push to make the Olympic team in May."
