Rifle Preview: Army West Point

Sunday, October 27

Memphis, Tenn.

8 am CT

University of Memphis

Army West Point

Photo by: © University of Memphis. photo

Oct 26, 2019 | Rifle

Tigers host Cadets in a top-10 encounter Sunday.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – After a two-week break from competition, the University of Memphis rifle squad returns to action Sunday, Oct. 27 when it hosts Army West Point in a nationally-ranked top-10 encounter at the R.F. Fogelman Rifle Range, which is located on the UofM campus.

Memphis is No. 10 in this week's Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA) poll, and Army West Point is No. 8. Sunday's match, which starts at 8 a.m. (CT), also is a Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) meeting.

The Cadets are the second-straight, top-10 foe for the Tigers. Two weeks ago, Memphis traveled to Annapolis, Md., and dropped a narrow two-point decision to No. 7 Navy. The Tigers were ranked No. 13 heading into that match.

Sunday's encounter versus Army West Point is the first of three-consecutive home matches for the Tigers. After Sunday, Memphis hosts No. 1 West Virginia on Nov. 3 and No. 15 NC State on Nov. 9. The Mountaineers and Wolfpack both are GARC opponents.

Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA) Poll

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

Head coach Dan Hermsmeier comments
(On last outing at Navy)
"In our sport, it doesn't come down to wins and losses, which is weird for a lot of people to understand. It really comes down to the scores we shoot at those matches. We put up a good score at Navy, where we don't shoot a lot. It was a good road match for us to get that experience. Navy is a very good team this year. They shot some solid scores. It was good for us to go up there and get a good road score."

(On Taylor Gibson's great start)
"She's continuing to have a strong freshman year. She's shooting well, and it's exactly what we need. She's holding her own, and we've got to keep her going the rest of the year."

(On the heart of the schedule coming up)
"We don't have any long breaks the rest of the fall. We're going to hit it hard all the way up to Thanksgiving. We have Army Sunday and then a couple more home matches followed by two big road trips to get some good away scores."

(On Leighton Dempster's return Sunday)
"It will be great to see her again. She can come back and see how the program is doing. Her mural she painted in the range is great for everyone to see."

Tigers Tidbits

Memphis enters the "home" stretch of its 2019-20 home schedule. The Tigers host their next three matches – including Sunday versus Army West Point – at the R.F. Fogelman Rifle Range and then shoot on the road the remainder of the regular season. Memphis competes again in the Bluff City in late February when it hosts the Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) Championships. The GARC Championships are set for the Larry O. Finch Center Feb. 28-29.
Last year, Memphis fell to Army West Point in a tri-match in West Point, N.Y. In the last meeting held in Memphis between the two programs, the Cadets defeated the Tigers in mid-October 2017.
Sunday's match is a "homecoming" for one Cadet. Army West Point assistant coach Leighton Dempster returns to campus, after starring for the Tigers from 2016-19. Dempster, a 2018-19 All-American, tied a school record in air rifle with a 596 against Army West Point last year. Dempster also painted a mural of the Memphis skyline in the R.F. Fogelman Rifle Range last spring (Link to story on Dempster's mural).
Sunday's match-up features a pair of West Virginia graduates as head coaches. Memphis head coach Dan Hermsmeier, a 2014 Memphis graduate, earned his master's degree from West Virginia in 2016. Army West Point head coach Web Wright attended West Virginia as an undergraduate and earned his degree in 1989. Between Hermsmeier and Wright, the two helped lead the Mountaineers to five NCAA titles.
Senior Levi Clark will be reunited Sunday with not only former teammate Leighton Dempster, but also his World University Games coach Web Wright. This summer, Clark competed in the World University Games in Italy, and his coach was Wright, who directs the Army West Point program.