Clark, Dempster Lead Rifle At NCAA Sectional

Saturday, February 16

Murray, Ky.

All Day

University of Memphis

NCAA Sectional Qualifier

Photo by: Trey Clark

Feb 17, 2019 | Rifle

NCAA Championships announcement Tuesday.

MURRAY, Ky. – The University of Memphis rifle's "one-two" punch of Levi Clark and Leighton Dempster paced the Tigers to an NCAA Sectional Qualifier victory over UT Martin Saturday.

The Tigers defeated the Skyhawks 4656-4584, winning the smallbore (2312-2274) and air rifle (2344-2310) disciplines.

Memphis now waits for Tuesday's NCAA Championships announcement of the eight-team field. The selection show is at 4 p.m. (CT) Tuesday, Feb. 19 on NCAA.com. The NCAA Championships are set for Mar. 8-9 in Morgantown, W.Va.

Clark won the aggregate crown with a 1176, followed closely by Dempster in second place with a 1174. The duo switched off winning the discipline championships Saturday. Clark took the smallbore title with a 588, and Dempster the air rifle crown with a 590.

Up Next
Memphis continues its postseason Feb. 23 at the Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) Championships in Akron, Ohio.

Tigers Tidbits

The battle for the final two spots in the NCAA Championships is going down to the wire. Entering the NCAA Sectional Qualifier, the Tigers had an average aggregate of 4670.3. That average from the regular season is added to Memphis' sectional score of 4656 and is divided by two. According to that calculation, the Tigers' average is 4663.2.
Levi Clark's 588 in smallbore was a career-best. His previous-high in the discipline was 586 in a home win over Nebraska Feb. 3. Clark's 588 score was one shy of tying Leighton Dempster's 589 school-record performance, which she set Feb. 9 versus Ole Miss.
Levi Clark posted his fourth aggregate of 1170 or higher this season Saturday. His 1176 aggregate at the NCAA Sectional Qualifier was three points shy of his career-best 1179 that he shot Feb. 3.
With her performance at the NCAA Sectional Qualifier, Leighton Dempster has shot aggregates of 1170 or higher in 10 of 13 matches this season, including the last eight in a row. She shot a career-high 1179 aggregate in a home win over NC State in late October.
For the second-straight week, Matt Dorey came close to tying his career-high in air rifle. Dorey shot a 587 in Saturday's NCAA Sectional Qualifier. He posted a season-high 588 air rifle score Feb. 9 versus Ole Miss. His career-high is 589 against the Rebels in Oxford, Miss., in 2017-18.
Junior Amberlie Ezell posted her second-highest smallbore score of the season (574). She shot a season-best 575 smallbore score in the Jan. 26 Withrow Invitational at Murray State, the host site of Saturday's NCAA Sectional Qualifier.
Freshman Arielle Kimm recorded a 584 in air rifle, her best mark in the discipline since the Nov. 19 Gamecock Invitational where she shot a 589.

Team/Rank	Smallbore	Air Rifle	Aggregate
Memphis/#9	2312	2344	4656
UT Martin/NR	2274	2310	4584

Memphis Individuals	Smallbore	Air Rifle	Aggregate
Levi Clark*^	588	588	1176
Leighton Dempster*^	584	590	1174
Matt Dorey*^	574	587	1161
Amberlie Ezell	574	572	1146
Arielle Kimm	562	584	1146
David Crenshaw^	562	579	1141
Mark Meyeraan*	566	565	1131