Nebraska Heads to Kentucky for Roger Withrow

Nebraska Heads to Kentucky for Roger Withrow
Lincoln - The Nebraska rifle team will take to the road to compete in the Roger Withrow Invitational Rifle Match on Saturday, Jan. 26. Hosted by Murray State, the match takes place over three days and attracts some of the top teams in the nation.

The Huskers, who finished third at the competition last season, are coming off a solid performance against UTEP on Jan. 12. With their showing, the Huskers moved up two places in the latest rankings, which are based on high score. Thanks to its strong smallbore score against UTEP, Nebraska jumped to eighth in the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association poll. The Huskers now sit eighth in smallbore (4,622) and are tied for seventh in air rifle (1,546).

The Huskers, who were unable to break 4,600 in smallbore, in their first three matches, recorded scores of 4,619 and 4,622 in their last two outings. Although NU struggled with air rifle against top-ranked Alaska-Fairbanks, theyre still averaging 1,537.2 for the season.

Sharp Shooters
Although Nebraskas team scores are down a bit from this same time last year, individually, several Huskers are shooting well. NU has three shooters averaging better than 1,157 in the smallbore and 385 in the air rifle. Junior Amanda Trujillo has been the Huskers top shooter, averaging 1,160 with the smallbore rifle and 387 in air rifle. In the Huskers home opener against Air Force, Trujillo captured her first individual title of the season, winning the air rifle with a season-high total of 392. Trujillo has bettered 390 in two matches this season, and is one of two Huskers to top 1,165 in the smallbore.

Sophomore Melissa Downsbrough has also been a force for the Huskers. Following an impressive freshman campaign in which she earned NRA second-team All-America honors in the air rifle, Downsbrough has emerged as the Huskers No. 2 shooter. After capturing the individual smallbore title against Air Force, Downsbrough won the air rifle against UTEP with a season-high score of 388. Downsbrough is now tied for the team lead in air rifle average (387) and is second on the team in smallbore, averaging 1,158.6.

Freshman Alicia Sawyer has also been strong for Nebraska. Sawyer, who hails from Andover, Minn., captured her first individual title with a victory in the smallbore against UTEP. She also led the Huskers against Alaska-Fairbanks, where she fired a career-high 1,168, bettering her previous high by 12 points. The mark placed her second overall behind Alaska-Fairbanks Matt Emmons, the 2001 NCAA smallbore champion.