Rifle Preview: Gamecock Invitational

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis rifle squad continues its road trip this weekend when it travels to Jacksonville, Ala., to shoot in the 2019 Gamecock Invitational. The Tigers compete Sunday starting at 8 a.m. (CT).

Memphis is in a field of five teams competing in the annual Gamecock Invitational. Murray State, No. 12 in this week's national poll, shot in the event last weekend and posted a 4644 aggregate. Joining the Tigers this weekend in Jacksonville, Ala., are No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 13 Jacksonville State and No. 21 UAB.

It's the second-straight weekend the Tigers shoot on the road, where the squad seems to perform at a higher level. Last weekend, Memphis traveled to Fort Worth, Texas, and faced No. 1 TCU and No. 12 Nebraska. The Tigers shot their best aggregates of the season – 4669 in both matches – and vaulted five spots in this week's Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA) poll.

Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA) Poll

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

Tigers Tidbits

Sunday's match is Memphis' annual fall close-out event each season. The Tigers have shot in the Gamecock Invitational each year of the 21^stcentury.
Sunday's match also continues a nearly three-month road trip for Memphis. The Tigers' last regular-season home match was Nov. 9 versus NC State, and Memphis does not have another regular-season home event. The Tigers are hosting the Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) Championships Feb. 28-29 at the Larry O. Finch Center. So, Memphis will stay on the road for 111 days between matches in the Bluff City.
However, the Tigers seem to enjoy life on the road, and it showed last weekend with the team's scores and also in this week's poll. As a result of last weekend's performances at TCU, Memphis jumped up five spots to No. 7 in this week's national poll. Two years ago (2017), the Tigers did the same thing. Memphis shot well in matches at TCU and moved up a whopping 10 positions in the poll from No. 18 to No. 8.
In last year's Gamecock Invitational, the Tigers set program records for team smallbore and aggregate scores. Memphis shot a 2332 in smallbore and a 4689 aggregate. Both marks surpassed the previous records of 2329 smallbore and 4683 aggregate that the team set in a home win over Navy in the 2013-14 season.
Two of the last three visits to Jacksonville, Ala., saw the Tigers shoot an aggregate of 4660 or higher (4667 in 2016; 4689 in 2018).
Arielle Kimm shot a career-high 1171 aggregate in last year's Gamecock Invitational.

University of Memphis Athletics

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