UK Rifle Wins NCAA Championship

The Wildcats are National Champions!

by Scott

March 13th, 2011 08:00 AM



In the heat of the 2011 SEC basketball tournament another Kentucky Wildcats squad won a national championship. Yesterday the Wildcats Rifle team won the NCAA championship holding off WVU. It is the first national title for the team. Congratulations to you all!

Behind gritty performances from veterans Heather Greathouse and Ethan Settlemires, the Kentucky rifle team won the overall national title at the 2010-11 NCAA Championships, hosted by Columbus State. After UK won the smallbore NCAA Title on Friday in the first day of competition, the Wildcats held off WVU's charge in air rifle on Saturday to secure the first national championship in program history, finishing with a 4700 team total score.

Kentucky entered the final day of competition on Saturday owning a seven-point lead. UK claimed its first ever NCAA Championship in smallbore on Friday, totaling a 2336 team score, led by Settlemires and Greathouse. Settlemires won the NCAA individual championship on Friday with a 590 in smallbore, becoming the first individual NCAA Champion in smallbore in program history.

The NCAA Championship is the first in the storied history of the UK rifle program. Since the 1994 season, the Wildcats have finished among the top 10 teams at the national championships a total of 16 times. UK owned four runner-up finishes and four third-place finishes since 1994 entering Saturday, including a fourth-place finish in 2009-10.

In claiming the 2010-11 national championship, the Wildcats have completed a historic season, including an unbeaten regular-season slate in the Great American Rifle Conference Championships.

Source: UK Athletics