Rifle Wraps Up Campaign At GARC Championships

Friday, February 24

Akron, Ohio

University of Memphis

Great American Rifle Conference Championships

Feb 26, 2017 | Rifle

GARC Championships/Smallbore GARC Championships/Smallbore Results GARC Championships/Air Rifle-Combined Results GARC Championships/Air Rifle and Combined

Doran reaches smallbore final, places sixth.

AKRON, Ohio – University of Memphis' Makennon Doran continued to put up solid performances in pacing the Tigers rifle team's efforts at the 2017 Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) Championships this weekend. The University of Akron's Stile Athletics Field House hosted the league championships match.

Memphis, ranked No. 11 nationally, placed seventh at the conference championships with an 4629 aggregate score (2303-2326). West Virginia, ranked No. 2 in the nation, won its eighth-straight GARC title with a 4725 aggregate score (2341-2384). No. 8 nationally-ranked Nebraska came in second with an 4679 aggregate score (2303-2376).

After posting career highs across the board at last week's NCAA Sectional Qualifier, Doran continued his tremendous shooting at the GARC Championships. The junior led the Tigers with a 1168 aggregate score and posted the squad's top smallbore (582) and second-best air rifle (586) marks.

Overall, Doran placed seventh in smallbore and 24^th in air rifle. His smallbore score earned him a spot in the discipline's final, where he shot a 390 and finished sixth.

Doran's conference performance comes after setting career highs in smallbore (586), air rifle (590) and aggregate score (1176) at last week's NCAA match. The Ozark, Mo., native received an invitation to the NCAA Championships in smallbore and will compete Mar. 10-11 in Columbus, Ohio.

Senior Amy Fister, who will join Doran in shooting smallbore at the NCAA Championships in two weeks, recorded Memphis' second-best score in the discipline with a 578. She placed 14^th in smallbore at the GARC Championships. She also shot a 581 in air rifle and posted a 1159 aggregate score (third-best on team).

In the final match of his college career, senior Jack Berhorst shot a season-high 591 in air rifle. He was the team's top finisher at 14^th in the discipline. His 591 score comes a week after he posted his previous season-best 584 air rifle mark at the NCAA Sectional Qualifier. Berhorst had the Tigers' second-highest aggregate score (1162) this weekend.

Other top performances for Memphis at the GARC Championships were freshmen Levi Clark in smallbore (30^th; 572) and junior Haylea Broughton in air rifle (25^th; 586).

Team/National Rank	Smallbore	Air Rifle	Aggregate
West Virginia/#2	2341	2384	4725
Nebraska/#8	2303	2376	4679
Kentucky/#6	2306	2361	4667
N.C. State/#9	2304	2356	4660
Army/#12	2311	2338	4649
Akron/#16	2286	2344	4630
Memphis/#11	2303	2326	4629
Ole Miss/#13	2286	2338	4624
Navy/#15	2295	2326	4621

Memphis Individuals	Smallbore	Air Rifle	Aggregate
Makennon Doran*%	582	586	1168
Jack Berhorst*	571	591	1162
Amy Fister*	578	581	1159
Leighton Dempster%	569	580	1149
Amberlie Ezell	566	581	1147
Haylea Broughton%	560	586	1146
Levi Clark*%	572	574	1146
Eli Rischling	563	568	1131
Abby Votava	544	574	1118