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Lincoln - For the third time in the program's six-year history, the Nebraska rifle team will compete for a national title at the NCAA Championships this Friday and Saturday, March 12-13, in Murray, Ky. The top eight teams based on scores fired at NCAA Qualifying matches last month in both the smallbore and air rifle events were selected.
For the Huskers, it will be their first appearance since the 2001 NCAA Championships. That year, the team finished eighth overall, taking sixth in smallbore and second in air rifle. Senior captain Melissa Downsbrough competed that year for the Huskers as a freshman. In 2000, Nebraska finished third overall in the team competition at its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Championships, taking fourth in smallbore and second in air rifle.
Nebraska had an impressive showing at their NCAA qualifying match on Feb. 14, firing the fourth-highest qualifying score in smallbore (4,633) and the seventh-highest score in air rifle (1,545). Head Coach Launi Meili feels, though, that there is definite room for improvement.
"At the NCAA Championships, we all start at zero again, so we have one last chance to perform at our full potential," Meili said. "We were about 15 points off our team goal for the year at the qualifier, so hopefully that will make us hungry and motivated to put it together for the big show."
The team competition will begin on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. and conclude in the afternoon with air rifle at 1 p.m. Nebraska will be represented in smallbore by senior Melissa Downsbrough, sophomore Misty Chanek and freshmen Kristina Fehlings and Stacy Underwood. Downsbrough, Chanek and Fehlings will join junior Laura Johnson in competing for the team in air rifle.
Prior to the team shoot on Saturday, the Huskers will have Chanek and Fehlings competing as individuals on Friday. Chanek qualified in both events, while Fehlings qualified in air rifle. In 2003, Chanek finished 12th in smallbore as an individual as a freshman at Tennessee Tech before transferring to Nebraska. Competition for individual smallbore will begin at 8 a.m. on Friday, with individual air rifle starting at 9 a.m.