Huskers Qualify for NCAA Championships

Lincoln - The Nebraska Rifle team has qualified for the NCAA Championships, the NCAA Men's and Women's Rifle Committee announced today. The 2020 National Collegiate Men's and Women's Rifle Championships will be hosted by the University of Kentucky on March 13-14 at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky.
 
Nebraska returns to the championships after missing out in 2019, breaking a school-record six consecutive appearances. First-year head coach Rachel Martin gave her thoughts regarding the team's qualification. "It goes without saying that we feel blessed to have this opportunity to represent Nebraska on the National stage. Coach [Mindy] Miles and myself came into this team taking our many years of experience in the sport and teaching the girls from our successes, but more importantly, our own mistakes. We feel it is essential to focus on these young ladies as people first, and athletes second. We have an amazing support staff here at Nebraska and I am so proud of the girls for all they have accomplished."
 
Eight teams qualified for the championships, based on the average of each team's highest three scores at different locations during the season added to the team's score at the NCAA Qualifier match on Saturday. Nebraska qualified with the fourth-highest aggregate score of 9,393. Kentucky led the way with a qualifying score of 9,450. TCU and West Virginia were second and third with 9436.33 and 9423.67, respectively. The other four teams to qualify were Akron, Murray State, Navy and Air Force.
 
"It is always difficult to go through a coaching change," Martin said. "I myself went through one during my collegiate career. But the athletes have started to realize they are a national quality team and have come together to create a team atmosphere that we are very proud of. Our team captains, Maddie Korthas and Kayla Gadeken, have been a huge part of that."
 
The Huskers compete in the Greater American Rifle Conference Championships this weekend in Memphis, Tenn., on Feb. 27-28. This is the last competition for NU before the NCAA Championships next month.