MURRAY, Ky. – Competing at Murray State’s Pat Spurgin Rifle Range for the second time in six days, the University of Tennessee at Martin earned several notable scores in a matchup against the Akron Zips.
Competing in just the second collegiate match of her career, freshman Sadie Palfrey nearly shattered the Skyhawk program record for air rifle scoring. The freshman from Indiana, Pa. nailed 50 centers on the way to a 596, which trails only former All-American Dacotah Faught (597 on Feb. 22, 2014) for the best tally in school history. Palfrey also tied for the team lead with 584 smallbore points on a team-high 36 centers to end her highly successful day with a team-best 1,180 aggregate score.
As a team, UT Martin shot a 4,659 combined tally – its highest score since Nov. 17, 2023 at Jacksonville State. The Skyhawks managed 2,317 smallbore points to go along with 2,341 points in air rifle – also both the highest scores for the program since the fall of 2023. Akron edged out UT Martin with an aggregate score of 4,704 (2,339 in smallbore, 2,365 in air rifle).
Following Palfrey (team-best 86 centers) in Skyhawk combined scoring was Aubrey Chenoweth (66 centers) and Alayna Walther (60 centers) – who were each responsible for 1,161 points. Joey Kovach amassed 1,154 aggregate points and 48 centers and was followed by Liam Tegeler (1,152, 48 centers), Jeffrey Bourassa (1,127, 42), Rachel Haines (1,115, 38) and Jesse Chamberlain (1,102, 31).
Walther equaled Palfrey for the team-high of 584 points in smallbore while Tegeler (575), Kovach (574) and Chenoweth (573) were also members of UT Martin’s scoring lineup. Bourassa (558), Chamberlain (549) and Haines (547) also took part in smallbore as individuals.
In air rifle, Chenoweth registered a strong 588 while Walther and Tegeler each shot a 577 – joining Palfrey’s 596 to equate the Skyhawk team score. Bourassa’s 569, Haines’ 568 and Chamberlain’s 553 were also counted on an individual basis for UT Martin.
The Skyhawks are back on the range next Saturday, Oct. 19 for their only home competition of the fall semester, colliding against Ohio Valley Conference rival Morehead State.
