Oct. 18, 2005

(Reno, NV) - The promising USF rifle team traveled to Reno to compete in its second match of the season and squared off against three schools in a smallbore and air rifle match at the University of Nevada, Reno. The Dons faced the team from Texas Christian University (TCU) in both air rifle and smallbore, while UNR faced an up and coming team from the University of Texas, El Paso.

Starting on Saturday October 15, each team member shot a 3 position (that is prone, kneeling, and offhand) smallbore match with twenty record shots in each position. Leading the team with a score of 559 was sophomore Katie Van Bogaert, close behind was sophomore Blake Cuban with a score of 545 out of a possible 600. Performing at a personal best was Jessica Mercer with the score of 198 out of a possible 200 in the prone position. This put the Dons in second place behind TCU.

Very early the next morning the team competed in a sixty record shot air rifle match. Performing for the first time on the USF Gold team and achieving a personal best score, sophomore Kenneth Han went above and beyond anyone's expectations. Sophomore shooter Katie Van Bogaert lead the team with a new personal best score of 572 out of 600. With a team aggregate of 2195 out of a possible 2400, the team defeated the UNR Sliver team.

The win in Reno gives the whole team much confidence in climbing up the ranks with this year's squad. The next match for the Dons will be October 28-30, at Yuba City.