The rifle team stayed par for the course in head coach Keith Miller’s 20th year of coaching the Pack and finished exactly where expected – at the top of one conference but at the bottom of another. The team secured its fourth consecutive Southeastern Air Rifle Conference Championship Feb. 27, one week after finishing seventh out of seven teams at the Great American Rifle Conference Championships.

Seniors Kat Siegert and Samantha Bullard produced strong performances in their final years with the Pack, but a group of talented underclassmen, including freshmen Bryan Cross, William Teller and Rachel Jones, look ready to step up. Teller excelled in both air rifle and smallbore and broke his personal bests several times. Cross finished second at SEARC with a score of 578 and was one of four team members to be named first team all-conference. Sophomore Rachel Jones, who also earned an all-conference nod, led her team in air rifle scores three times during the season.

The team showed it still has a long way to go before it can compete with the national powerhouses at GARC, but easily handled the SEARC and earned its fifth overall title. Siegert won the individual title with a score of 581, with Cross, Jones and Teller rounding out the team score.

One hopes to see steady improvement, but even without proper facilities, the team seems to be holding strong. A young group of athletes carried most of the scoring this year and the future looks bright for the rifle team.