Intercollegiate rifle team defeats Citadel, wins conference tournament
12/6/2012 2:15:04 PM
(Dec. 6, 2012) — North
Georgia College & State University's intercollegiate rifle team edged out
The Citadel by 12 points to take first place in the recent Southeastern Rifle Conference
tournament. Two team members also took first and second in individual
standings.
The Dec. 1 conference,
hosted at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., closed out the fall portion of the
season.
The Saints won the
tournament with a strong 2,274 point total. The Citadel was second with 2,262,
followed by Wofford and Clemson University. Saints contributing to the win were
Casadie Bragg, Cadet Ryan Moran, Cadet Kyle Bailey, and Sara Howell, all
freshmen.
Coach Tori Kostecki was
pleased with the team's performance.
"The fall portion of
our season has exceeded all expectations, as the team has broken school records
12 times so far," she said. "With any luck, the spring semester will
continue to follow the same pattern and we will continue to excel."
In individual standings,
three North Georgia team members finished in the top 10, including the top two
spots. Bragg fired a 578 to beat North Georgia teammate Moran by two points in
individual competition. It was her third win of the season and Bragg remains
the only athlete in the conference who has won multiple matches. She also has
two second-place finishes out of eight matches this season.
Moran's second-place
score shattered his personal record by 17 points, and Bailey claimed sixth
place with a solid 564.
In NCAA competition, The
Citadel men's team edged North Georgia 2,254 to 2,244; Wofford placed third and
The Citadel women's team took fourth.
North Georgia returns to
action on Sat 19 Jan 2013 when they host the entire Southeastern Rifle
Conference for a tournament at their on-campus range. This will be
a great opportunity to see the team in action and watch the
live updated target displays and scoreboard. February will be very busy for the
Saints hosting Memphis State University and University of North
Carolina, nationally ranked, then away at Virginia Military Institute
and twice at The Citadel, first for the collegiate indoor national championship
and NCAA qualifier, and then on March 2 for the conference championship.
One of the oldest student
groups on campus, the team has been awarded multiple national titles and
All-Americans, and both team and individual national championship
titles in 2011.
The Intercollegiate Rifle
Team competes with Olympic class Air (.177) and Smallbore (.22) rifles. As
a member of the Southeastern Rifle Conference, the team competes against North
Carolina State University, The Citadel, Virginia Military Institute, Columbus
State University, University of Memphis, and many others.
Team members are also
eligible for scholarships, priority class registration, free tutoring,
all-expense paid trips for competitions and paid summer jobs. Cadets may also
earn accessions points.
North Georgia competes in
NCAA Division II as a member of the Peach belt Conference in 12 sports: men's
and women's basketball, men's and women's soccer, women's cross country, mixed
rifle, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's golf, baseball and softball.