Murray State University Athletics
Photo by: Murray State Sports Information
Racer Rifle SpotLight - Nehemiah Gillman
6/14/2011 5:12:01 PM | Rifle
When the Murray State rifle team started practice in the fall of 2010, the season canvas was blank and head coach Alan Lollar saw that the ingredients were there for the finished work to turn out very well.
“Coming into 2010-11 I knew we had shooters with the potential to do well,” Lollar said. “It was just a matter of getting everyone on the same page and accomplishing our goals. We were coming off a nice year in 2009-2010 and we wanted to move up the ladder a little.”
One of those to accept the challenge was first-year shooter Nehemiah Gillman of Fort Wayne, Ind.
“We had several people step up at different times during the year,” Lollar said. “None bigger than Nehemiah.”
“For the last two years we have had a young team,” Lollar said. “That may sound a little strange, but in that two-year period, we haven't taken five shooters to the NCAA Championships that have been there before. This year we will begin the year with a solid core of shooters that have been there. Nehemiah will be a big part of that. Nehemiah is an exceptional shooter, that has not reached his potential yet.”
After a solid start in the first three matches, Gillman flashed some scores that caught people's attention.
At Kentucky (Oct. 22), Gillman shot a 579 smallbore and 590 air rifle (600 is a perfect score). The following day against Army recorded a 589 air rifle. The following week he returned home to post a 581 and 589 against TCU (Oct. 30). Those three matches, along with a 587 in the West Virginia match (Nov. 7), helped solidify the Racers as a team to watch.
At the Ohio Valley Conference Championships (Feb. 5), at Jacksonville State, the Racers had a nice smallbore day. However, the second day of the competition was rocky.
“We knew he had shot some good scores in the past. That shows potential. What we were waiting on was how we handled expectations attached to that potential.”
The Racers dropped the air rifle portion of the match to JSU, losing 2341-2340, but that was not the story of the day. Going into that last relay, knowing they had to be at their best, Gillman, along with Katie Cleven, posted identical 591 scores. The Racers cruised home with a second straight OVC championship, 4661-4648.
At the end of the season, the Racers competed in the NCAA Championship for a second straight season.
“My first year as a racer went very well,” Gillman said. “One of my major goals was to be All-American in at least one gun, I achieved this for both which was great. Going to NCAA's was awesome.”
“This is a team sport, you can't win without everyone doing their part,” Lollar said. “But, at times there are performances that are very special. Nehemiah was one of the shooters that helped us have a great season.”
Now that the Racers are home for the summer, staying physically and mentally ready to compete is important to Gillman.
“During the summer it's hard to keep practice as intense as it is in season, in fact you can't,” Gillman said. “The best I can do, is keep myself at a level that makes it easy to get sharp when I get back in the fall. I'm doing a lot of dry firing and hold exercises, with the occasional match thrown in there. Of course physical training is very important. I'm riding my bike quite a bit for cardio.”
Gillman is also very much aware of the outstanding history that Murray State Rifle has.
“Being at Murray is just great,” Gillman said. “MSU Rifle has had so many great people come through. Bill and Bob Beard both went here, Ernie Vande Zande, Morgan Hicks, the list goes on. I smile every time I think of my name up there on that All-American plaque with all of those other amazing shooters.
“He is now ready to shoot at the level that I know he aspires to,” Lollar added. “This will be the toughest thing he has ever done in shooting. But there is one thing I have learned about Nehemiah, he has yet to fail to do anything he has set out to do. One step at a time, one goal at a time, I think he has a chance to leave a mark on Murray State Rifle.”
“Coming into 2010-11 I knew we had shooters with the potential to do well,” Lollar said. “It was just a matter of getting everyone on the same page and accomplishing our goals. We were coming off a nice year in 2009-2010 and we wanted to move up the ladder a little.”
One of those to accept the challenge was first-year shooter Nehemiah Gillman of Fort Wayne, Ind.
“We had several people step up at different times during the year,” Lollar said. “None bigger than Nehemiah.”
“For the last two years we have had a young team,” Lollar said. “That may sound a little strange, but in that two-year period, we haven't taken five shooters to the NCAA Championships that have been there before. This year we will begin the year with a solid core of shooters that have been there. Nehemiah will be a big part of that. Nehemiah is an exceptional shooter, that has not reached his potential yet.”
After a solid start in the first three matches, Gillman flashed some scores that caught people's attention.
At Kentucky (Oct. 22), Gillman shot a 579 smallbore and 590 air rifle (600 is a perfect score). The following day against Army recorded a 589 air rifle. The following week he returned home to post a 581 and 589 against TCU (Oct. 30). Those three matches, along with a 587 in the West Virginia match (Nov. 7), helped solidify the Racers as a team to watch.
At the Ohio Valley Conference Championships (Feb. 5), at Jacksonville State, the Racers had a nice smallbore day. However, the second day of the competition was rocky.
“We knew he had shot some good scores in the past. That shows potential. What we were waiting on was how we handled expectations attached to that potential.”
The Racers dropped the air rifle portion of the match to JSU, losing 2341-2340, but that was not the story of the day. Going into that last relay, knowing they had to be at their best, Gillman, along with Katie Cleven, posted identical 591 scores. The Racers cruised home with a second straight OVC championship, 4661-4648.
At the end of the season, the Racers competed in the NCAA Championship for a second straight season.
“My first year as a racer went very well,” Gillman said. “One of my major goals was to be All-American in at least one gun, I achieved this for both which was great. Going to NCAA's was awesome.”
“This is a team sport, you can't win without everyone doing their part,” Lollar said. “But, at times there are performances that are very special. Nehemiah was one of the shooters that helped us have a great season.”
Now that the Racers are home for the summer, staying physically and mentally ready to compete is important to Gillman.
“During the summer it's hard to keep practice as intense as it is in season, in fact you can't,” Gillman said. “The best I can do, is keep myself at a level that makes it easy to get sharp when I get back in the fall. I'm doing a lot of dry firing and hold exercises, with the occasional match thrown in there. Of course physical training is very important. I'm riding my bike quite a bit for cardio.”
Gillman is also very much aware of the outstanding history that Murray State Rifle has.
“Being at Murray is just great,” Gillman said. “MSU Rifle has had so many great people come through. Bill and Bob Beard both went here, Ernie Vande Zande, Morgan Hicks, the list goes on. I smile every time I think of my name up there on that All-American plaque with all of those other amazing shooters.
“He is now ready to shoot at the level that I know he aspires to,” Lollar added. “This will be the toughest thing he has ever done in shooting. But there is one thing I have learned about Nehemiah, he has yet to fail to do anything he has set out to do. One step at a time, one goal at a time, I think he has a chance to leave a mark on Murray State Rifle.”
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