March 2, 2005

OXFORD, MISS. - The Great America Rifle Conference Championships concluded Sunday afternoon with Nebraska taking the overall team title with a score of 2314 in smallbore and a 2349 in air rifle for 4663 total points. Army finished second (4647), and 2004 champ Kentucky took third (4632).

The host Ole Miss Rebels registered a season-high smallbore score of 2300 on Sunday on their way to an aggregate score of 4612 for fifth place.

The Memphis Tigers came in fourth overall (4620), followed by Ole Miss in fifth, Xavier in sixth (4605) and West Virginia in seventh (4576).

In the smallbore portion of the Championships, Army's Chris Abalo took top individual honors with a 590 (686 including the finals). Vicki Goss of Kentucky placed second with 585 (683) and Misty Chanek of Nebraska finished third with 584 (681).

"I think the tournament went very well. Everyone had positive reactions," said Ole Miss head coach Valerie Boothe, whose school was hosting the event for the first time. "We were able to provide some real-time scoring updates, which has not really happened in our league before."

Five of the seven teams in the highly competitive Great America Rifle Conference will go on to compete at the NCAA Championships, which will be held March 11-13 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. They are Army, Kentucky, Memphis, Nebraska and Xavier.

Team Aggregate:
1.      Nebraska (2314-2349=4663)
2.      Army (2318-2329=4647)
3.      Kentucky (2304-2328=4632)
4.      Memphis (2287-2333=4620)
5.      Ole Miss (2300-2312=4612)
6.      Xavier (2307-2298=4605)
7.      West Virginia (2304-2272=4576)
Team Smallbore:
1.      Army (2318)
2.      Nebraska (2314)
3.      Xavier (2307)
T4.     Kentucky (2304)
T4.     West Virginia (2304)
6.      Ole Miss (2300)
7.      Memphis (2287)
Team Air Rifle:
1.      Nebraska (2349)
2.      Memphis (2333)
3.      Army (2329)
4.      Kentucky (2328)
5.      Ole Miss (2312)
6.      Xavier (2298)
7.      West Virginia (2272)
Individual Smallbore:
1.      Chris Abalo, Army (590, 686 final)
2.      Vicki Goss, Kentucky (585, 683 final)
3.      Misty Chanek, Nebraska (584, 681 final)
4.      Paul Charbonneau, Army (586, 679 final)
5.      Hannah Kerr, Xavier (581, 675 final)
6.      Chris Boggs, Kentucky (580, 674 final)
7.      Daniel Ault, Xavier (580, 672+9 final)
8.      Amy Smith, West Virginia, 582, 672+7 final)
9.      Lucas Leinberger, Army (581, 670 final)
10.      Jared Rinker, Kentucky (580, 664 final)
Individual Air Rifle:
1.      Beth Tidmore, Memphis (593, 692+50 final)
2.      Chris Abalo, Army (594, 692+49 final)
3.      Kristina Fehlings, Nebraska (591, 689+10 final)
4.      Andrea Franzen, Nebraska (591, 689+9 final)
5.      Krissey Bahnsen, Memphis (589, 688 final)
6.      Vicki Goss, Kentucky (588, 687 final)
7.      David Amiot, Army (590, 686+19 final)
8.      Misty Chanek, Nebraska (587, 686+18 final)
9.      Katie Benjamin, Memphis (586, 683 final)
10.     Shannon Wilson, Ole Miss (588, 682 final)