UK Rifle Ready for Weekend Meeting with No. 16 Army

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The sixth-ranked Kentucky rifle team is back in action on Saturday at 9 a.m. ET as it faces No. 16 Army at the Buell Armory on the University of Kentucky campus. Live targets can be found here.

“This is the time of year when our season starts to pick up,” assistant coach Rena Goodwin said. “After navy, we had an opportunity to get in quality training and recharge our batteries as we head into a busy stretch of our fall season. Heading into this weekend, we are ready to compete here at home. For the six athletes who traveled to Oxford, Mississippi, to compete in the Ole Miss Open on Oct. 8, this will be their first match on their home range. We are excited to have the whole team together this weekend as we take on Army.”

The Wildcats are coming off a bye week, but previously defeated an eleventh-ranked Navy squad 4688-4645 in Annapolis, Maryland, during their last outing two weeks ago. That handed Kentucky its first Great American Rifle Conference win of the season, and improved its overall record to 6-1.

In the last meeting between the two teams, Kentucky overtook Army on the final day of competition at the GARC Championships last season, claiming second place overall. The Wildcats also came away with a win in the regular season meeting in West Point, New York, 4649-4597.

The Black Knights hosted a tri-match for their first match of the season. They defeated MIT in both disciplines, claiming a 4641-4225 decision, but lost to the No. 10 Memphis Tigers 4652-4641. Army enters the weekend 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the GARC.

Billy Azzinaro led the way for the Wildcats against Navy with a new personal best smallbore and aggregate score. The junior fired a 1177 aggregate score, which tied the season-high score by any one on the team, and a 588 in smallbore. Azzinaro finished one point short of his career-high air rifle score with a 589.