Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Jacksonville State
Players Mentioned
Racers Have Strong Showing Against Top-Ranked Frogs
10/22/2017 8:48:00 PM | Rifle
Match Overview
The fourth-ranked Murray State rifle team split a tri-match with eighth-ranked Jacksonville State and No. 1 TCU Sunday at the Pat Spurgin Rifle Range in Murray, Kentucky. The Racers' total score of 4704 was more than enough to beat the Gamecocks' 4639 in the match, however the top-ranked Horned Frogs had the highest score of the day at 4726.
Smallbore
Robert Broadstreet and MacKenzie Martin led MSU's counters in the match at 584, while Barbara Schläpfer followed at 583. Alathea Sellars shot a 578 for the Racers in the event, while Ivan Roe rounded out the squaded shooters at 577. For the non-squaded shooters, Ben Estes shot a team match-high and a career-best 588, while Dana Buesseler also set a new career mark by tying Broadstreet and Martin at 584.
Air Rifle
Broadstreet and Martin once again led the counters in air rifle at 595, while Schläpfer was just one off at 594. Estes followed a strong small bore with a solid air rifle, while Roe bounced back in air rifle, as both shot a 591. Meike Drewell was the high non-squaded shooter for Murray State in the match at 592, just one more than Sellars who fired a 591.
Aggregate
Broadstreet, Estes and Martin all turned in totals of 1179 in the match, setting a new career-high for Estes. Following the trio of Racers was Schläpfer at 1177, Drewell at 1171 and both Sellars and Buesseler at 1169.
Opponents
Rachel Garner led TCU in smallbore with a 591, while Mindy Miles fired a match-high 597 in air rifle for the Horned Frogs. Miles also had a match-high aggregate score Sunday at 1187. For the Gamecocks, Zach Schmidt led his team with a 580 smallbore, while David Sink had a team-high 586 in air rifle. Schmidt finished the day with team-high 1162 aggregate, just edgings Sink's 1161.
Coach Lollar On The Match
"This was a big weekend for our team," said head coach Alan Lollar after the match. It is important that we take these opportunities to compete against the best teams in the country like TCU, and in a few weeks, West Virginia. We like lining up against them, as it's the only way you find out where you need to be. As it turns out, we shot above our season average against the number one team in the nation and I am very proud of that."
"Ben had a great come back today," continued Lollar. "He has been struggling in smallbore and that was better today and he continued to be consistent in air rifle with a strong score. Dana also had a really good day with personal bests in both smallbore and aggregate."
"For Kenzie and Bobby, we count on them every week and they continue to be solid for us and Ivan had a good air rifle day, after struggling in smallbore. He is well on his way to getting back to his normal level of consistency. Barbara's smallbore was really good today and her solid air rifle gets better every week. I'm glad to see her finding her rhythm as far as consistency is concerned."
"Shelby had good day, as he has been working on some things and it is starting to show. His air rifle is very close to doing some special things and he is ready to break out any time. Meike's smallbore was there, despite running out of energy in standing that cost her a few points. However, her air rifle was nice and solid and she is doing good things in training and working to improve the way she approaches certain shots. Alathea's air rifle was good again and her smallbore match was good besides one segment. Eric was able to string some shots together and is moving forward."
Season Bests
SMALLBORE: Dana Buesseler – (584); Meike Drewell – 579; Ben Estes – (588)
AIR RIFLE: Robert Broadstreet – 595*; MacKenzie Martin – 595*; Alathea Sellars – 591
AGGREGATE: Robert Broadstreet – 1179; Dana Buesseler (1169); Ben Estes (1179);
Shelby Huber – 1162; MacKenzie Martin – 1179
Parentheses indicates score is also a career-high; * indicates score is a team season-high
The Racers return to action in two weeks on Nov. 4., when they travel to Columbus, Ohio for Ohio State's annual Buckeye Open.
