Ohio State
PRC Championships Smallbore
Buckeyes Place Third At PRC Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Rifle
Feb. 9, 2015
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COLORADO SPRINGS, Col. – The No. 9 Ohio State Rifle Team fired a 4,655 to place third at the Patriot Rifle Conference (PRC) Championships held at the Air Force Academy over the weekend. No. 2 Alaska (4,680) was crowned Conference Champions for the second consecutive year while No. 3 TCU (4,665) was second, No. 6 Air Force (4,647) was fourth, No. 14 Nevada (4,597) took fifth and UTEP (4558) placed sixth. The team score of 4,665 was the third highest of the season for the Buckeyes.
In smallbore, Ohio State fired a 2,311 with a solid overall team performance led by freshman Mark Matheny’s 581. Closely behind Matheny were fellow freshman Drew Cheezum (579) and sophomore Deanna Binnie (579). Junior Remington Lyman (572) and freshman Josh Black (572) rounded out team scoring for Ohio State.
With their scores Matheny, Cheezum and Binnie all qualified for the individual event final where the top eight qualifying scores compete to crown the individual smallbore champion. Binnie and Cheezum both earned medalist honors with Binnie finishing second behind match winner Tim Sherry (Alaska) with Cheezum placing third. Matheny also had a solid final finishing in fifth place.
In air rifle, the Buckeyes posted a 2,344 led by a season and personal best score of 593 from freshman Drew Cheezum. Following Cheezum were Black (586), Lyman (583), Binnie (582) and Matheny (582). Cheezum qualified for the individual air rifle final and finished in fourth position.
Binnie, Cheezum and Matheny earned All-Conference Honors in smallbore while Cheezum earned All-Conference in air rifle.
“I am very proud of how our team competed over the weekend at the PRC Championships,” said head coach Ryan Tanoue. “The PRC has a wealth of talented teams with four of the six schools ranked in the top 10 so it was good to see our team handle the challenge of a championship environment and compete at a high level. For us to post our third-highest score of the season on the road at an event like the conference championship was a testament to the team’s preparation throughout the season. Top to bottom in both guns I thought this was a great team effort.”
“Of course there are some areas that we will look to improve over the next two weeks but there were a ton of positives to take away from this match as well,” Tanoue continued. “We had Drew fire a new personal best in air rifle which was also the highest air rifle score for our team this season. We also had four individuals earn All-Conference honors which says a lot about the depth of our team and the performance level they are capable of producing. Lastly, our 4,655 team score improves our NCAA qualification average which is another step toward being part of the eight team field at the NCAA Championships in March. We are currently ranked ninth and the team is focused on making the final push to the finish which will culminate at the NCAA Qualifier in two weeks.”
Ohio State has this coming weekend off and will return to action as the host of an NCAA Qualification match at the Hugh W. Wylie range on February 21st.
The top eight teams will qualify for the NCAA Rifle Championships based on a combination of their NCAA Qualification Average and the score fired at the NCAA Qualification match.
