Flames, Lady Flames combine to finish fourth at Intercollegiate Rifle Club Championships in Indiana

Saturday, January 27

Annville, PA

8:00 AM

Liberty University Club Sports

Palmyra Open Invitational Rifle Match

Freshman Lauren Frackelton showed tremendous improvement as one of five newcomers to the team this season.

Flames, Lady Flames combine to finish fourth at Intercollegiate Rifle Club Championships in Indiana

3/25/2024 8:37:00 PM | Rifle

Liberty improved on its fifth-place Smallbore and Air Rifle results at last month's WIRC Championships in Ohio.

Rifle-team-prone-position — Liberty team members compete from the prone position in the Air Rifle discipline at the ASSA IRRC National Championships

Liberty University's rifle teams capped a successful season with a fourth-place finish in Smallbore, Air Rifle, and Overall standings with an aggregate score of 4332 over the weekend at the American Smallbore Shooting Association (ASSA) Intercollegiate Rifle Club Championships (IRRC) at the X Count Range in Fort Wayne, Ind.

After placing fifth in both divisions of the Feb. 24-25 WIRC Conference Championships hosted by the University of Akron (Ohio), Liberty Head Coach Marlene Gray was excited that all seven of her student-athletes shot above their five-match season average for both rifles at nationals.

"Seeing the athletes work hard all season and peak at the end of the season is very rewarding," she said, noting that five of the team's seven nationals competitors were newcomers. "This has been a growing year (and) we are hoping to carry this momentum into next year."

Caleb-Sellers-standing — Freshman Caleb Sellers competes in the standing position.

Besides freshman Caleb Sellers, a Civil Marksmanship Program Scholarship recipient from nearby Campbell County, the other new team members had very little experience in this discipline of competitive shooting.

"Team captain Elizabeth Gilroy worked hard with the team all season by demonstrating the three positions (prone, standing, and kneeling) and helping the new members develop their skills and improve their scores," Gray said, noting that Gilroy competed in the Air Rifle category at nationals while enduring pain from a hip injury.

Sophomore returnee Eddie Rea also assisted his team by providing useful feedback and encouragement throughout the season.

"The Liberty Rifle Team put in many hours of their time training and learning the basic shooting fundamentals," Gray said. "Each postal match gave them valuable feedback to adjust their training as they continued to improve. We felt very prepared as we entered the end of the season with our last three big matches."

Starting the season at the Palmyra Smallbore & Air Rifle Invitational, in Annville, Pa., on Jan. 27, when Rea shot a personal record and team-high 561, prepared the Flames and Lady Flames for the WIRC and the ASSA IRRC Championships. At the WIRC Championships, freshman Lauren Frackelton (536) and sophomores Elena Gigoux (547) and Lane Bailey (429) shot PRs in Smallbore after Gigoux earned first place by posting the most improved smallbore score in the five-match WIRC season.

Assistant Coach Erica Cruz won the Air Rifle Coach of the Year Award for her contributions to the program after competing in the WIRC event last season.

At nationals, Gigoux (15th), Frackelton (19th), and Rea (20th) placed in the top 20 in Smallbore with Rea posting a PR total of 533 along with senior newcomer Blake Gray (488). In the Air Rifle competition, Frackelton (545) and Sellers (551) both fired PRs.

Gigoux (21st), Rea (22nd), and Frackelton (24th) finished in the top 25 with their combined overall Smallbore and Air Rifle scores to help Liberty post two season-record team totals in Smallbore (2,133) and Air Rifle (2,199).

Complete results are available online.
Video by Kylee (Lilge) Wright/Club Sports Video & Media Coordinator