RESULTS

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The 21^st-ranked Citadel co-ed rifle team had a strong showing Saturday afternoon against ninth-ranked Air Force and 24^th-ranked VMI at the Inouye Marksmanship Center. The Bulldogs posted an aggregate score of 4559, placing second behind the Falcons' 4680 but ahead of the Keydets' 4468.

"This was a very good response to our low scores last weekend," said head coach William Smith. "We wanted to go out there and put up some good scores today, and we did just that. Air Force is a very good program and we are looking forward to competing against them again tomorrow, and anytime you can win a rivalry matchup against VMI, it's a good day."

Saturday's 4559-4468 win over VMI allowed the Bulldogs to hold on to the Keydets' range flag while also protecting the Bulldogs' own flag. Earlier this season, the Bulldogs opened up their Southern Conference slate by defeating VMI 4552-4472 on the road. The two military institutions have developed a friendly rivalry in rifle over the years that sees the winning team of their matches holding on to the other's range flag during the regular season. The VMI flag currently hangs in Coach Smith's office and will remain there until next year's match against VMI.

Air Force claimed the top six individual spots and eight of the top 10, led by Anna Weilbacher's 1175 aggregate, including a 581 in smallbore and a 594 in air rifle.

The Citadel was led by junior Allison Auten with an 1155 aggregate score, placing her seventh overall, and freshman Max Brabston with an 1150, placing him ninth overall. Auten fired a 570 in smallbore while Brabston shot a 565 in the discipline. Both shot a 585 in air rifle. Auten's 570 in smallbore placed her eighth while Brabston was 10^th and the two finished sixth and seventh in air rifle.

Alexander McAlear ended the day with an aggregate score of 1125, just one point ahead of Morgan Long. McAlear fired off a 556 in smallbore while Long had a 553 in the discipline, but Long bounced back with a 571 in air rifle while McAlear posted a 569.

Colton Poole rounded out the scoring for the Bulldogs' co-ed squad with an 1120 aggregate score, made up of a 546 smallbore and a 574 in air rifle.

The Citadel women's team finished fifth in the field with a 4195 aggregate score. Shay Littlejohn led the women's team with a 1073 aggregate score, including a 520 in smallbore and a 553 in air rifle.

Senior Carli Cline was second with a 1068 aggregate, made up of a 527 in smallbore and 541 in air rifle, while Lauren Pringle was third with a 1062 aggregate score, including a 513 in smallbore and 549 in air rifle.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will take on Air Force in one final home match tomorrow, Sunday, Jan. 28 before closing out the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 3 at Wofford. The Bulldogs and Terriers will also take on UAB in a SoCon match. Two weeks later, the Bulldogs will host an NCAA Qualifying match on Saturday, Feb. 17 and Sunday, Feb. 18.

The Citadel will host the 2018 SoCon Rifle Championships March 3-4, 2018 inside the Inouye Marksmanship Center as well as the 2018 NCAA Rifle Championships March 8-10, 2018 inside McAlister Field House. The NCAA rifle championships will mark the third national championship competition hosted at The Citadel and first since Johnson Hagood Stadium was the site of the 1983 and 1984 Division I-AA football national championship games.

For more information on The Citadel rifle team, follow @CitadelOlympic on Twitter or visit CitadelSports.com.