Huskers Miss NCAAs in 08-09; Return Everyone Next Year

The Nebraska rifle team just missed out on a sixth straight NCAA Championships bid in 2009, but the young Huskers fared well at the GARC Championships and captured ten individual titles throughout the season. NU finished with a team aggregate average of 4,596 and a 13-9 season record.

 

The Huskers finished tenth nationally, leaving them just outside the top eight teams that qualify for the NCAA finals. But with no seniors on the squad, the future looks bright for Head Coach Morgan Hicks’ squad.

 

For the second straight season, junior Amanda Jeffries paced the Huskers with a team-best 586.08 air rifle average. In addition to her two air rifle and one smallbore individual titles, the Norman, Okla., native garnered three overall combined titles to lead the Huskers. Her performance garnered her first-team All-America status in air rifle.

 

Sophomore Ryann McGough had a breakout season, leading NU with a 573.46 smallbore average and capturing five individual titles ? four in smallbore and one in air rifle. McGough was the overall combined champion against eventual national champion West Virginia as well. At season’s end, McGough received honorable mention on the All-America smallbore list. 

 

Junior Christine Costello was the only other Husker to capture a title on the season. Costello won two smallbore titles and was the individual combined champion against N.C. State.

 

NU began its season with a 4,651-4,563 loss at Nevada-Reno, the first of seven NCAA Championship opponents Nebraska would face throughout the season. Jeffries opened with a career-best 593 in air rifle, which tied the second-highest mark in school history. Freshman Katie Kostal opened with what would turn out to be a season-best 582 air rifle score.

 

The Huskers bounced back the next weekend with a pair of wins in their first home matches of the season. Nebraska defeated Army, 4,619-4,600, and two days later outmatched Air Force, 4,610-4,584. Jeffries was the air rifle and combined individual champion of the Air Force match, while Costello completed the Husker sweep with the smallbore award, thanks to a career-best 582.

 

Next, the Huskers made their longest trek of the season, to Fairbanks, Alaska, to take on two of the best teams in the nation in Alaska-Fairbanks and Kentucky. Nebraska was overwhelmed in both contests, dropping a 4,670-4,606 decision to the Wildcats and then a 4,647-4,595 decision at the hands of the Nanooks.

 

The Huskers concluded the fall portion of their schedule with a November trip to Murray, Ky., to face Hicks’ alma meter, Murray State. Nebraska evened its record to 3-3 after defeating the Racers, 4,602-4,541. McGough captured her first career smallbore title and her first individual title of the season with a score of 580, which was a personal best at the time.

 

McGough’s score only held up until the next match, when she toppled it with a 588 and captured another smallbore title at West Virginia. She also won the overall combined title, but it wasn’t enough as the Huskers fell to the Mountaineers, 4,650-4,622. Despite the loss, the total was the highest output of the season for the Huskers.

 

The following day, the Huskers defeated N.C. State in a neutral site match in Morgantown, W.V., 4,610-4,482. Costello led NU with a smallbore and combined title, while Jeffries and McGough each scored the top air rifle mark of 584.

 

NU then returned home for three consecutive home meets before the NCAA Qualifier. The Big Red defeated Mississippi, 4,591-4,579 behind Jeffries’ overall title and McGough’s smallbore medal. Junior Ashley Lane competed well as an individual, scoring a career-best 583 in air rifle.

 

Nebraska took second place in a three-way meet with Mississippi and NCAA qualifier TCU after shooting 4,577. McGough shined for the Huskers, capturing her fourth individual title in five matches with another smallbore award. Freshman Sheena Mahloch also scored a career-high 579 in air rifle.

 

The Huskers closed the home portion of their schedule with a 4,568-4,563 loss to Memphis. Jeffries was the overall and smallbore champion, while McGough earned her fifth discipline title of the season with an air rifle award.

 

At the NCAA Qualifiers in Murray, Ky., NU placed second out of five teams, trailing only NCAA qualifier Jacksonville St. Costello finished in the top five in both disciplines and led the Huskers with a combined score of 1,160 while posting a season-best 585 in air rifle. Jeffries, who also shot 585, placed fourth in air rifle for the Huskers. 

 

At the GARC Championships in Oxford, Miss., Nebraska earned a third-place showing with a score of 4,620. Jeffries placed fourth in the individual combined standings at 1,164, and she was fifth in the final air rifle standings. In addition to her second-team air rifle honors, Jeffries earned All-GARC first team accolades for her overall top-four finish.

 

Kostal was perhaps the most surprising performer in the entire field. The No. 4 shooter for the Huskers all season long, Kostal shot her way into the smallbore finals with a score of 582, which tied the record for best smallbore score by a Husker freshman. In the finals, Kostal finished third overall. She ended up seventh in the individual combined standings, good for second-team All-GARC honors, but her smallbore finish earned her a spot on the smallbore first team.

 

Costello also earned a top-ten finish for the Huskers, coming in at ninth in the overall combined standings and thus earning honorable mention.

 

In addition to numerous national and conference athletics honors, Nebraska also boasted academic success to its credit, as four members of the rifle team were named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Fall Honor Roll, two with perfect 4.0 grade-point averages.

 

McGough, a psychology major, made her third straight appearance on the list and finished the fall with the second 4.0 GPA of her college career. Mahloch, a pre-pharmacy major, made her first appearance on the list and also earned a 4.0 GPA in the fall.

 

Jeffries made her fifth straight appearance on the list and Costello qualified for the fourth time in her career.

 

 

2009 Season Highlights

• NU finished with a 13-9 record and just missed on qualifying for a sixth consecutive NCAA postseason appearance.
• Two Huskers were named All-Americans: junior Amanda Jeffries earned first-team honors in air rifle, while sophomore Ryann McGough earned honorable mention in smallbore.
• Three Huskers earned All-GARC honors: Jeffries (All-GARC first team, Air Rifle second team); Katie Kostal (All-GARC second team, Smallbore first team); Christine Costello (All-GARC and Air Rifle honorable mention).
• Four Huskers were named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Fall Honor Roll: Costello, Jeffries, Sheena Mahloch and McGough. Mahloch and McGough each posted 4.0 GPAs for the semester.

Nebraska’s Individual Event Titles in 2008-09

Christine Costello (2)

Smallbore: 582 (vs. Air Force, 10/12/08), 577 (vs. N.C. State, 1/17/09)

Amanda Jeffries (3)

Air Rifle: 588 (vs. Air Force, 10/12/08), 584 (vs. N.C. State, 1/17/09); Smallbore: 571 (vs. Memphis, 2/7/09)

Ryann McGough (5)

Air Rifle: 581 (vs. Memphis, 2/7/09); Smallbore: 580 (at Murray State, 11/9/08), 588 (at West Virginia, 1/16/09), 576 (vs. Ole Miss, 1/23/09), 578 (vs. TCU with Ole Miss, 1/24/09)