No. 12 Rifle Collects Pair of GARC Wins at Akron

Saturday, November 7

Akron,Ohio

All Day

NC State

4647

4670

#7 Ohio State University

Photo by: Jed Gammon

No. 12 Rifle Collects Pair of GARC Wins at Akron

11/8/2015 7:20:00 PM | Rifle

Wolfpack takes down conference foes Akron, Ole Miss

AKRON, Ohio – The 12^th-ranked NC State rifle team made a strong #STATEment at No. 14 Akron with a pair of Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) wins against the host Zips and No. 16 Ole Miss Sunday afternoon.

The Wolfpack (16-2, 13-0 SEARC, 3-1 GARC) continued its solid start to the season by firing a score of 4637 to claim a pair of GARC wins. Akron charted a score of 4630 and Ole Miss tallied a team score of 4606.

On Saturday, NC State competed head-to-head against seventh-ranked Ohio State in non-conference action and was outdone by the Buckeyes, 4670-4647. The score of 4647 for the Wolfpack was its second-highest in program history despite the loss.

Miller's Minute
"It was great to see a good overall team performance," said head coach Keith Miller. "We've been stressing everyone pulling together for a total team effort, and this weekend was a good step in that direction. We had a lot of strong contributions from different people and that's the kind of balance we need to keep improving and reaching our goals.

"One other key aspect of Sunday was our two victories over fellow GARC schools Akron and Ole Miss. Going into smallbore, Akron fired an impressive 2307 in air rifle and led us by 21 points. Our 2351 air rifle allowed us to catch and pass Akron. I'm really proud of that particular effort, as it came under pressure and at the very end of a long and tiring weekend. It's our second highest team air rifle score and could not have come at a better time."

Match Notes from Saturday
- Lucas Kozeniesky headlined the Wolfpack's performance on Saturday by breaking the program record in the smallbore competition with a score of 587, the third-highest score fired at the competition. The junior from Fairfax Station, Va., now holds the individual school records in air rifle (595) and smallbore (587).
- In addition, Kozeniesky posted a strong score in air rifle with a 591 clip to tie his career best in aggregate total at 1178 (587+591).
- Sophomore Caitlyn Ford also enjoyed a career day with a personal-best score of 573 in smallbore and a 588 in air rifle to tally a career best 1161 in aggregate total.
- Senior Daniel Cliff charted a score of 588 in air rifle, while sophomore Derya Pekari recorded a score of 582. William Marciniak and Alex Martin rounded out the lineup with scores of 571 and 570, respectively.
- In smallbore, Martin fired a 571 and Pekari shot a 567. Cliff and Marciniak each recorded scores of 564.
- NC State tallied a score of 2349 in air rifle as a team and 2298 in smallbore to compile the second-best team score in program history at 4647.

Match Notes from Sunday
- The Wolfpack logged a team score of 4637 Sunday on the strength of a 2286 clip in smallbore and a total of 2351 in air rifle.
- Kozeniesky shined once again with a score of 594 in the air rifle competition, the fourth-best score fired at the event. He shot a 579 in smallbore to lead the Pack.
- Cliff notched a score of 589 in the air rifle event, as the second-best score for NC State, while Ford charted a 586.
- Pekari and Martin tallied scores of 582 and 579, respectively, and freshman Tyler Lefebvre earned a 564 to round out the air rifle lineup.
- In smallbore, Pekari registered the second-best total for NC State with a 573 and Marciniak chipped in with a score of 571.
- Martin charted a 563, Ford a 562 and Lefebvre notched a 540.

Up Next
NC State will compete for the final time this fall when it travels to Jacksonville, Ala., for a GARC matchup against No. 8 Memphis and then resume its season in January.

#STATEment