The No. 10 Nebraska rifle team (3-3) will travel to Morgantown, W.V., to take on No. 2 West Virginia, No. 6 Murray State and No. 7 Air Force this weekend.
The teams will compete in the smallbore on Saturday and the air rifle on Sunday. Both days are set to start at 7:30 a.m. (CT) and fans can follow along with live results here.
“The Fall Classic will be structured like the NCAA Championships,” Head Coach Mindy Miles said. “Morgantown will host the NCAAs so this weekend’s match will give the team a chance to dry run for the championships.”
Most recently, the Huskers faced off against No. 18 The Citadel on Nov. 4, and won by a score of 4,704-4,632. There, four Nebraska athletes finished in the top five overall.
NU is 3-3 on the season so far with wins coming against No. 7 Air Force, No. 11 Ohio State and the No. 18 Bulldogs. They have shot program-bests in both the team aggregate (4,728, at Air Force) and air rifle (2,384, at Air Force).
Four team members – senior Cecelia Ossi, junior Mackenzie Strauch, sophomore Tori Watts and freshman Charlie Mick – have shot a career best in at least one event this season. The Fall Classic is the last match of the fall portion of the Huskers’ season.
“I frequently tell the team that we need to find how to be consistent,” Miles said. “We fluctuate a lot with our team scores and it makes it hard to gain confidence for them. We have seen a lot of improvements in practice and I believe where the problem lies is when we change to a match, where pressure is added. They have done a good job of posting personal bests, but they haven’t quite gotten it all together, minus our appearance at USAFA.”
Nebraska has already competed against WVU this year, and lost by scores of 4,748-4,699 and 4,732-4,722 on Oct. 28 and 29. The Mountaineers are undefeated on the season and average an aggregate score of 4,744.17. They have wins against No. 1 TCU, No. 8 Memphis, No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 12 Akron.
The Racers have grabbed wins against No. 11 Ohio State, No. 19 UT Martin and UTEP and lost to No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 15 Morehead State. They have an average aggregate score of 4,690 this season. NU has not faced Murray State this season.
NU defeated the Falcons earlier this year, behind program-record aggregate (4,728) and air rifle (2,384) scores and numerous personal bests. Air Force has defeated No. 13 Navy, No. 14 Army and UTEP and has taken losses against the Huskers and No. 1 TCU. They average an aggregate score of 4,717.80.
Up next, Nebraska will take a break for the winter and return to action at Kentucky on Jan. 14.
https://huskers.com/news/2023/11/9/huskers-travel-to-fall-classic-to-face-three-top-10-teams
