The rifle teams consisted of only five members last year. One fell ill early in the season, and another graduated in December. But despite the turmoil, the team went on to win the Southeastern Air Rifle Conference championship for the second season in a row.
The team picked up six freshmen in the off-season, and is looking to recruit a sophomore transfer from State University of New York Maritime College. If she joins, the team will carry 10 members into the regular season, a far cry from last year’s dwindling numbers.
“We have such an influx this year,” head coach Keith Miller said. “We’ve gone from too few to too many, which is not a bad problem to have.”
Returning shooter Kat Siegert, a junior in business management, said she was concerned that the new recruits might not stick around.
“We were a little bit worried, because we were a small team and we weren’t sure they would fit in, but they’re doing well,” Siegert said. “They’re good little newbies.”
Those “newbies” are freshmen Pierce Ellis, Mark Nations, Rachel Jones, James Patterson, Chris Melochick, and Matthew Yeatman. That adds up to six freshmen on a nine-person team. Miller said several of the freshmen are going through a “re-learning process.”
“They all come from different shooting backgrounds, and now they’re getting adjusted to the way we compete,” Miller said.
Before each match, a team declares four shooters. Only those scores will count toward the final team score. The only ones assured of those spots are the three returning members, senior Noel Keck, junior Samantha Bullard and Seigert. Last year’s MVP and co-captain, Thomas Knight, graduated in May.
“We have some scores that need to be replaced,” Miller said. “All three returning members have moved up a little bit, so that’ll help. It’s still to be determined how the newcomers will make up the difference.”
Nations, an engineering major, won the National Junior Prone Championhip at Camp Perry, Ohio last year.
“It was a surprise, but it was good,” Miller said. “We knew he’d do well but we didn’t know he’d do that well. It gave him a good confidence boost.”
Jones, whom Miller called “extremely coachable”, was Nations’ teammate at Enloe High School in Raleigh.
“Those two right now are mostly competing for the No. 4 spot,” Miller said. “One of them will probably compete as No. 4 in smallbore and one will be No. 4 in air rifle, and [Melochick] is right behind them.”
Melochick, a freshman in First Year College, said he likes what he sees of his new team.
“From all the conferences I’ve been a part of in the past, we seem to be on the same level,” Melochick said. “We’re going to be really competitive this year.”
The rifle team has its first match against The Citadel and Army this weekend. The team will have plenty of time to bond on the road, as for the second year in a row, the Pack has only one home match.
“Every trip I bring my camera, and I take tons of videos and pictures, just so I can record the other side of shooting,” Siegert said deviously. “I have so much blackmail material.”
