Husker Rifle heads to NCAA Qualifiers

#7 ranked Nebraska Rifle Team is getting ready for post season action as they head to Murray, Kentucky for NCAA Qualifiers Sunday, Feb. 22. They need to all perform well since their score as a team at qualifiers will be combined with 3 other best scores chosen by the coach, Ashley Rose and submitted to move on in the post season.

We are going to highlight each one of the team members so you get to learn a little bit more about the ladies behind the rifles. I have to admit I learned more about the sport along the way. I hadn’t ever paid much attention to Rifles, but hopefully articles like this will get more people supporting the Husker ladies.

Nebraska Rifle Team

First thing I noticed was the really cool Husker leather outfit. It’s not just an outfit, it’s the uniform. These ladies have to stand up, kneel and lie down in a 4-5 hour stretch and these outfits help provide a little bit of support. They have an inside spine system (and that’s all regulated) which helps them stay straight and true. They combine this with core training and conditioning. All this is critical as each of the women told me in their interviews.

There are 2 parts to the competition, smallbore and air rifle. All Husker team members do both. Air rifle is a gun that uses a .177 caliber lead pellet propelled by compressed air or gas instead of  a gunpowder charge and the rifles weigh up to 12.12 pounds. The smallbore is a .22 caliber gun with a metallic sight used in competition and can be customized and/or altered with the length of the barrel, stock, design, etc) for each shooter’s comfort. Aother part I’ll explain more is the 10 in the center of the target. Not just a center shot, an inner 10 in smallbore is a shot that can be measured by how far it is from the true center of the 10. Believe me, that matters.

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For now, sit back and get ready to learn about all 8 ladies. Trivia #1. Not one of them is from Nebraska. Rifle Team members: Sophomores Jaycee Carter, Rachel Martin and Lauren Phillips. Juniors Alexandrea Lorentz, Marissa Major, Denise Martin and Maggie Mical. Only one senior on the team, Kelsey Hansen. GO BIG RED!!