Shooting For The Top: Rifle Travels To Indiana For National Championship, Finishes Third Overall

Getting in the right mental state is everything for Liberty’s rifle team as it finished third in both smallbore and air rifle competition at the ASSA Intercollegiate Rifle Club National Championship in Fort Wayne, Indiana, April 2-3.

“We’re really focusing on our mental game, for them to go in there and just go in mentally strong and just go through the shot process and not worry so much about the end results,” Head Coach Marlene Gray said prior to the competition.

That mindset seemed to be working for Liberty’s rifle team, who finished second in the team smallbore rifle standings at the Western Intercollegiate Rifle Conference Championships Feb. 28.

Smallbore style shooting refers to a competition using a .22 caliber rifle in three positions: standing, kneeling and prone. The team also finished third Feb.28 in the air rifle competition, which is an Olympic style of stand-up shooting where each shooter gets 60 shots. 

Kristen Gagne won the smallbore competition and finished second in the air rifle at the WIRC competition Feb. 28.

The University of Akron topped both team competitions Feb. 28.

“Akron is someone we’ve always worked hard to beat. We’ve been second place behind them for most of the season,” Marlene Gray said.

The six ladies of Liberty’s club rifle team have been shooting well and felt ready to take the field at nationals. Prior to COVID-19, the National Rifle Association held the national championships, but after a cancellation for the second year in a row, nationals will be hosted by the American Smallbore Shooting Association.

One of Liberty’s members is Marlene Gray’s daughter Katherine, who welcomed the opportunity to shoot in college. 

“Early on I knew that I wanted to go to Liberty, but they didn’t have a shooting program at the time,” Katherine Gray said. “Then near the end of high school, they announced that they had a shooting team, so then I made my final decision to come here.”

Katherine Gray had an unfortunate injury during the WIRC match, but she aimed to put together a solid last competition.

“I’ll only be competing in air rifle this weekend, so I’m just trying to shoot average and to finish my senior season on a high note,” Katherine Gray said prior to nationals.

For freshman shooter Devin Peppard, her mindset headed into the weekend was to focus on her plan.

“My goal for this weekend is just to turn out in air really well,” Peppard said prior to nationals. “I would just really like to keep my mental game to keep my process pretty consistent and therefore have a decent score.”

Coach Gray reflected this theme of consistency.

“Anyone can shoot a 10, but can you shoot a 10 consistently every time?” Marlene Gray said. “It really comes down to the mental game. It’s being consistent every time, taking that shot.”

Gagne replicated her WIRC success with a second-place finish in smallbore at nationals. Claudia Weber and Payton Peppard finished top five in smallbore and air rifle, respectfully. 

Cosentino is a sports reporter. Follow him on Twitter.