Murray State University Athletics
Sunday, February 6
Murray, Ky.
9 a.m.
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Racers Bring Home 16th OVC Championship
2/6/2022 7:59:00 PM | Rifle
MSU has now won six of the last seven league titles
In A Nutshell
The Murray State rifle team claimed the 2022 OVC Rifle Championship with an aggregate score of 4702 Sunday at the Pat Spurgin Rifle Range in Murray, Kentucky.
Fast Facts
Next Up
The Racers will have little time to celebrate the win, as they return to action next Saturday in Oxford, Mississippi as they take on Jacksonville State in their final match before the annual OVC qualifier in two weeks.
2022 OVC Postseason Awards
2022 Smallbore All-OVC Teams
First Team
Matias Kiuru, Murray State
Elizabeth Plecity, Morehead State
John Blanton, Murray State
Bryce Ward, Morehead State
Dana Buesseler, Murray State
Second Team
Allison Henry, Murray State
Nicholas Fares, UT Martin
Erin Diehl, Morehead State
Katie Frye, Morehead State
Scott Patterson, Murray State
All-Newcomer Team
John Blanton, Murray State
Alayna Walther, UT Martin
Jesse Chamberlin, UT Martin
2022 Air Rifle All-OVC Teams
First Team
John Blanton, Murray State
Scott Patterson, Murray State
Allison Henry, Murray State
Grace Weber, Morehead State
Andrew Duryea, Murray State
Second Team
Erin Diehl, Morehead State
Matias Kiuru, Murray State
Bryce Ward, Morehead State
Nicholas Fares, UT Martin
Amber Schifano, Morehead State
All-Newcomer Team
John Blanton, Murray State
Andrew Duryea, Murray State
Alayna Walther, UT Martin
Jesse Chamberlain, UT Martin
2022 OVC Smallbore Athlete of the Year
Matias Kiuru, Murray State
2022 OVC Air Rifle Athlete of the Year
John Blanton, Murray State
2022 OVC Freshman of the Year
John Blanton, Murray State
2022 OVC Coach of the Year
Allan Joseph, Morehead State
The Murray State rifle team claimed the 2022 OVC Rifle Championship with an aggregate score of 4702 Sunday at the Pat Spurgin Rifle Range in Murray, Kentucky.
Fast Facts
- Murray State shot a 2330 in smallbore and 2372 in air rifle en route to a 4702 aggregate. Morehead State came in second with 4675, while UT Martin was third with a 4603.
- Matias Kiuru won the smallbore event for the Racers with a 589, while John Blanton won the air rifle event with a career-high 597. Blanton also posted the top aggregate score of the championship with an 1181.
- In smallbore, Blanton followed Kiuru with a 584, while Dana Buesseler and Allison Henry clustered their scores not too far from Blanton with a 579 and 578 and 575.
- The last three Racers counters in air rifle were also tightly clustered with a 593 for Patterson, a 592 for Henry and a 590 for Andrew Duryea.
- The championship is the 16th all-time in program history and the sixth in the past seven seasons.
- This year's OVC title is the eighth under head coach Alan Lollar, giving more OVC rifle championships than any other coach in program history. The title also moves Lollar into a tie for fourth place for most OVC titles by any coach in program history with Bill Furgerson (men's cross country/track & field) and Margaret Simmons (men's cross country/track & field). He is also now just one championship shy of tying Jacksonville State's Ron Frost for most conference championships in OVC history.
Next Up
The Racers will have little time to celebrate the win, as they return to action next Saturday in Oxford, Mississippi as they take on Jacksonville State in their final match before the annual OVC qualifier in two weeks.
2022 OVC Postseason Awards
2022 Smallbore All-OVC Teams
First Team
Matias Kiuru, Murray State
Elizabeth Plecity, Morehead State
John Blanton, Murray State
Bryce Ward, Morehead State
Dana Buesseler, Murray State
Second Team
Allison Henry, Murray State
Nicholas Fares, UT Martin
Erin Diehl, Morehead State
Katie Frye, Morehead State
Scott Patterson, Murray State
All-Newcomer Team
John Blanton, Murray State
Alayna Walther, UT Martin
Jesse Chamberlin, UT Martin
2022 Air Rifle All-OVC Teams
First Team
John Blanton, Murray State
Scott Patterson, Murray State
Allison Henry, Murray State
Grace Weber, Morehead State
Andrew Duryea, Murray State
Second Team
Erin Diehl, Morehead State
Matias Kiuru, Murray State
Bryce Ward, Morehead State
Nicholas Fares, UT Martin
Amber Schifano, Morehead State
All-Newcomer Team
John Blanton, Murray State
Andrew Duryea, Murray State
Alayna Walther, UT Martin
Jesse Chamberlain, UT Martin
2022 OVC Smallbore Athlete of the Year
Matias Kiuru, Murray State
2022 OVC Air Rifle Athlete of the Year
John Blanton, Murray State
2022 OVC Freshman of the Year
John Blanton, Murray State
2022 OVC Coach of the Year
Allan Joseph, Morehead State
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