Dec. 5, 2017
The Buckeyes headed to the Olympic Center over the weekend. On Dec. 1 and Dec. 2 the team competed against individuals from across the country in an Olympic-style event.
The Buckeyes sent ten shooters to the event, including senior Drew Cheezum, senior Joshua Black, senior Mark Matheny, junior Michael Steinel, junior Bailey Urbach, junior Quintin Wotring, sophomore Rhiann Travis, sophomore Jacob Buchanan, freshman Elizabeth Dutton and freshman Mica Harr.
For women, each shooting session consists of 40 shots with decimal scoring, as opposed to the integer scoring used in their regular collegiate matches. The 40 shots create a total out of 436, with a perfect score from one shot being a 10.9.
For men, each shooting session consists of 60 shots with decimal scoring as well. The men shoot for a shot at a total aggregate of up to 654, with 10.9 being a perfect score per shot.
For USA Shooting, a shooter is considered a junior if they are under the age of 21. For the Buckeyes, there were four junior shooters—Rhiann Travis, Elizabeth Dutton, Mica Harr and Jacob Buchanan.
The top eight competitors from each group (Men’s/Men’s Juniors/Women’s/Women’s Juniors) make it to the final to compete for a top spot. The finals consist of 24 total shots, and only the first place and second place finishers complete all 24 shots based on elimination through the finals. Each of the eight finalists fire two round of five shots each totaling ten shots, and then for the next 14 shots, which are individually times, the lowest shooter is eliminated every other shot. Two Buckeyes made it to the finals in their respective groups—sophomore Rhiann Travis and senior Mark Matheny.
Ohio State had two members finish in the top three in their group on day one of shooting. Senior Mark Matheny finished third overall in 10m Air Rifle Men’s on day one with a score of 224.8 in the finals. Matheny’s total overall score for the weekend was a 620.1.
Sophomore Rhiann Travis also took third place in 10m Air Rifle Women’s Juniors on day one with a score of 225.7 in the finals. Travis shot a total score of 412.5 over the course of the weekend.
Additionally, Jacob Buchanan headed to the finals on day two of Men’s Junior competition. Buchanan shot a score of 622.1 on the day and a score 182.7 of in the finals, placing 5th on day two.
For the Men’s and Women’s Open shooters, the score over the weekend is cumulative. As for the Men’s and Women’s Juniors, placement is based solely on performance in each day’s match.
Men (125 total competitors)
Women (177 total competitors)
Men’s Junior (84 total competitors)
Women’s Juniors (141 total competitors)
Men’s Junior (85 total competitors)
Women’s Juniors (142 total competitors)