The University of Tennessee at Martin rifle teams were defeated this past weekend by Ole Miss in Oxford.

The UTM teams continue to improve and turn in good solid performances despite their lack of experience.

The women’s air rifle team had two freshmen and two juniors in this week’s competition. Freshmen Devra Harvey led the team with a 379 followed by junior Jessie Wilson and freshmen Jennie Fladebo who both fired 378.

Becky Latimer, a transfer from Nebraska, had her best performance of the year with a 364. The UT Martin women’s team had a total score of 1,499 to Ole Miss’ 1536.

In the smallbore competition, Harvey led with a 1,127 followed by the only male in the competition, UT Martin’s Byron Godbee, who fired a 1,107.

Fladebo shot a 1,098 and team captain Jessie Wilson had a 1,065. UT Martin had a team score of 4,397, while Ole Miss shot 4,559.

The team is yet to show its full strength. The four best shooters have not been paired together in one match. In rifle shooting, there are no substitutes. You pick your four shooters before the match starts and that is your team.

This can be frustrating because someone who is not on your designated team may beat one of the four top shooters. This costs the team points and could even cost them the match.

College rifle shooting is broken up into two events, air rifle and smallbore. In air rifle, shooters shoot 40 shots from the standing position. Each shot is worth a maximum of 10 points, so a perfect score is 400.

In smallbore shooters, shoot 40 shots each from the standing, kneeling and prone positions. Again, each shot is worth a maximum of 10 points and a perfect score is 1,200. College rifle teams can be made up of any combination of male and female shooters.

The UT Martin rifle teams will have a few weeks off. Their next competition will be Nov. 2-3 at the Walsh Invitational hosted by Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. Coutesy of UTM Sports information