Rifle Competes At Winter AirGun Championships
12/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rifle
FORT WORTH – Seven current members of the TCU Rifle team along with three former and one incoming Horned Frogs competed at USA Shooting's Winter AirGun match this past weekend.
The three day event was held in Colorado Springs and featured a trio of 40-shot air rifle qualification events to determine the eight finalists for a 24-shot elimination final. Each day produced a champion. There were 154 competitors in the women's air rifle discipline, 139 of which also competed in the junior category.
TCU's shooters put forth strong showings on all three days of the event. On Day 1, two Frogs qualified for the finals. On Day 2, three of the eight junior finalists were Horned Frogs, while two of the eight in the open final were Frogs. On the final day, TCU had four representatives in the open final and three in the junior final.
Mindy Miles qualified for all three junior finals, dominating the field of 139. On Day 1, she qualified for the finals with score of 413.1. She claimed her first gold medal after shooting a 250.4 in the final.
Miles followed a similar route to a gold medal on Day 2. She fired a q
ualification score of 414.1 before topping the field with a 247.3 in the finals.
A thrilling finish to the championships on Day 3 saw Miles come back from a 0.3 deficit on the final shot to defeat fellow Horned Frog Elizabeth Marsh for her third gold of the weekend. She also qualified for the Women's Open final, ultimately finishing third.
She was named "High Collegiate" for her three day total score. There were athletes competing at WAG representing all college teams currently ranked in the top 10.
Incoming freshman Elizabeth Marsh also sparkled at the championships, qualifying for both the open and junior finals on the final two days of the even. She earned a podium spot in all four finals, picking up a trio of second-place finishes and one third-place finish.
On Day 2, Marsh fired a strong 418.1, finishing second, just 0.8 points behind former Horned Frog Sarah Beard (418.9). Day 3 saw Marsh fire the highest qualification score (417.8) in both the open and junior divisions.
Rachel Garner earned a spot in both the open and junior finals on Day 2. She finished second to complete the Horned Frog podium sweep behind Miles and ahead of Marsh.
Casey Lutz earned a spot in the finals on Day 3 with a qualification score of 413.9. She ultimately finished fourth in the women's open and fifth in the women's junior division.
Former Frog Sarah Beard earned a spot in all three open finals.
TCU's collegiate season is set to resume Jan. 21 when the Frogs host Ohio State and the Coast Guard.
Players Mentioned
