North Carolina State University Athletics
Kozeniesky Completes Action at World Championships
9/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Rifle
GRANADA, Spain – Competing in the first international experience of his young career, sophomore Lucas Kozeniesky of the NC State rifle team finished 29th in the men’s junior 50m three-position smallbore rifle event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championship on Friday.
"We're very proud of Lucas," said Wolfpack rifle head coach Keith Miller. "He finished in the middle of the pack, which for your first international match and the World Championships, is a pretty good place to be."
Kozeniesky fired the second-best score among U.S. shooters competing in the event with a 1147 clip to finish among the top 30. He recorded his highest score of the day while shooting from the prone position with 393 of a possible 400 points.
The Fairfax, Va., native registered a 99 in both of his first two series of prone before tallying a 98 and 97 on his third and fourth series, respectively. Kozeniesky fired a 377 from the standing and kneeling positions to give him the aggregate score of 1147.
"Lucas had a really strong prone score, which has been a focus of his lately," Miller added. "He had a tough start in the kneeling position, but came back strong and his standing score as usual was a strong point."
"I felt great shooting from the prone position today," said Kozeniesky. "I was comfortable in the kneeling position as well, I just didn't perform as well as I would have liked."
NC State assistant rifle coach Jennifer Marshall accompanied Kozeniesky on his trip to Spain and added that he performed well.
"I think Lucas shot well; we just need to fine-tune some aspects of his kneeling position," said Marshall. "Overall, it was a great experience for him."
The Wolfpack will open the 2014-15 season on Sunday, Sept. 21, when it travels to Dahlonega, Ga., to compete in the first South Eastern Air Rifle Conference (SEARC) match of the season.
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