Rifle Preview: Navy

Saturday, October 12

Annapolis, Md.

7:30 am CT

University of Memphis

Navy

Photo by: © University of Memphis. photo

Oct 11, 2019 | Rifle

Tigers to face the Mids in Annapolis for first time since 2016.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – After two weeks off after its season opener, the University of Memphis returns to action Saturday, Oct. 12 for the Tigers' first road test of the 2019-20 campaign. Memphis travels to Annapolis, Md., to face Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) foe Navy.

Saturday's match begins at 7:30 a.m. (CT) at the Bancroft Hall Rifle Range on the campus of the United States Naval Academy. The Tigers are ranked No. 13 in the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA) poll, and the Mids are No. 7.

It is Memphis' first trip back to Annapolis since the 2016-17 season, making senior Levi Clark the lone Tiger to have shot at Navy. The team's other five shooters are competing for the first time at Navy.

Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association Poll

Rank	Team	Rank	Team
1.	West Virginia	11.	Nebraska
2.	Air Force	12.	Akron
3.	Kentucky	*13.*	*Memphis*
4.	TCU	14.	Jacksonville State
5.	Ole Miss	15.	Ohio State
6.	Army West Point	16.	Morehead State
7.	Navy	17.	UT Martin
8.	Alaska-Fairbanks	18.	UTEP
9.	NC State	19.	North Georgia
10.	Murray State	20.	Coast Guard

Head coach Dan Hermsmeier comments
(On the Sept. 21-22 season opener)
"We had a great season-opening match in the Tiger Open. We like to have that initial match at our home range to shoot against some good competition and work out some kinks. The team did well. We have room for improvement, but it was a good start."

(On freshman Taylor Gibson's collegiate debut)
"She's turning into an integral part of the team, as I knew she would be when I recruited her. She's performing great in practice, and her first match of the season went really well. We look forward to her keeping that going her four years."

(On this season's start)
"Practice has been going well. We've worked on a lot of things we identified over the summer as our weak areas, and we're stilling working on those. Our first match was a really good starting point, especially with how we started the previous two years. I don't like to compare years too much, but it has taken us a little longer to get going. We have tried to get ahead of that a bit more this year, and we've had a better start than in the past."

(On Saturday match at Navy)
"Navy always provides good competition. We haven't been to Navy in quite a while. Annapolis is a great town. I love getting up there and seeing the academy. We're looking to build on our last match score and gain some valuable experience."

(On the two-week breaks between the season's first three matches)
"We have all of our home matches in the fall, and it just kind of worked out like that. I really like our schedule this year. We had a break after our last match, and some of the team was able to go to one of the Olympic trials in Georgia. They were able to compete there and gain some experience. After our break after Navy, we have a match scheduled almost every weekend until Thanksgiving. It's good to get them in that match mode, to be more competitive in the range during practice."

Tigers Tidbits

The two Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) rivals have gone back-and-forth in results the last five years. Memphis holds a narrow 3-2 edge. The Tigers won the 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 meetings, and the Mids took the last two encounters.
Memphis defeated Navy on its last trip to Annapolis in 2016-17. Levi Clark, a freshman on that squad, led the Tigers to the win with a 1168 aggregate in only the third collegiate match of his career.
In addition to shooting against Navy in Annapolis this weekend, the Tigers face the Mids again in 2019-20. Navy is scheduled to visit the Bluff City in late February, taking part in the 2020 GARC Championships at the Larry O. Finch Center on the UofM campus.
In last's year match-up, Levi Clark won the smallbore discipline and also took top honors in aggregate score.
David Crenshaw, Matt Dorey, Arielle Kimm and Mark Meyeraan also shot against the Mids in last season's match.
Freshman Taylor Gibson shoots in her second collegiate match Saturday, after an impressive debut three weeks ago. In the win over UT Martin, Gibson posted a 1167 aggregate, the best by a Tiger freshman in a collegiate debut in over a decade.
Memphis starts the 2019-20 season ranked no. 13 in the national poll. Last season, the Tigers began the campaign ranked No. 14.