Racers Take Down a Pair of Top-5 Teams

Saturday, October 26

Murray, Ky.

8:00 a.m.

Murray State

4658

4650

TCU

Kelsey Emme was the top overall scorer in both small bore and air rifle

10/27/2013 1:12:00 PM | Rifle

Results

Murray State rifle hosted their second tri-match of the season, welcoming No. 3 Jacksonville State and No. 4 TCU to Pat Spurgin Rifle Range. The No. 10 ranked Racers faced a tough task, but were able to come out on top scoring 4658 points. Jacksonville State finished second with 4653 and TCU was behind them at 4650.

Speaking about the task of taking on two top-five programs, head coach Alan Lollar said, "JSU and TCU are both great programs with fine coaches. We always look forward to the chance to measure ourselves against the best."

Junior Kelsey Emme was the top scorer in both the small bore and the air rifle. Her score of 585 in the small bore was a season's best and three points ahead of second place finisher, Megan Lee of TCU. Emme also shot a season best in air rifle, firing a 592. Said Emme following the match, "I was excited to have a good day where everything felt right and went well, but I was even more excited about how well my team performed today."

Freshman Katarina Bisercic also had a big day for MSU. She was the number two scorer in both disciplines. Bisercic fired a season best 580 in the small bore to finish in third place and a 585 in the air rifle to finish in seventh. Speaking about taking down two top-five teams, Bisercic said, "I'm happy with my performance. I finally managed to shoot both rifles well. Regarding the team, I think we did a very good job even though we felt pressure because we knew that we were shooting against two top five teams in the country. We managed to come out as winners with a season best score."

A pair of other Racers also finished in the top-10 in scoring. Senior Bill Harvey placed fifth in the small bore with a score of 577 and sophomore Tessa Howald tied with Bisercic with a season best 587 air rifle, finishing eighth. Said Harvey about his performance, "I was pleased with how I finished. When things started to get rough I was able to stop, calm down and finish strong."

Rounding out the scoring at small bore was Howald (571) and freshman Jack Berhorst (557). Howald just missed cracking the top-10 finishing in 11^th place and Berhorst placed 26^th.

Berhorst also figured into the scoring for the air rifle. He and senior Michael Burzynski each fired a 579 to finish in 16^th and 17^th place.

"Kelsey, Katy (Bisercic), Bill and Tessa came up big today. It was like they were not going to be denied." I was also proud of Mikey (Burzysnski) and Jack. Both worked hard. Jack came back well in air after a tough Smallbore. He's getting it figured out. Mikey always gives you his best. Sam (Harris) is showing signs of being ready to contribute, also," said Lollar.

Regarding the state of his team following the match, Lollar said "This is a big time for this team. They are starting to see what they are capable of. The team has worked hard and deserved this victory. Monday will be time to start getting ready for the next challenge."

Murray State next travels to Columbus, Ohio for the Buckeye Open on Nov. 9.