MURRAY, Ky. – The Jacksonville State rifle team finished second in the smallbore portion of the 2018 Ohio Valley Conference Rifle Championships, which started on Saturday at Murray State University.

The Gamecocks came up short in the smallbore with defending league champion Murray State.  JSU finished with an aggregate score of 2299, while the Racers accumulated a 2340 to claim the 2018 OVC Smallbore Championship.  Jax State was three marks better than third-place Morehead State, while UT Martin finished with a 2281 and the UTM women rounded out the team scores with a 1658.

Junior Trace Haynes was JSU's top finisher in smallbore with a final tally of 579.  Competing in his first OVC meet, freshman Sam Payne made a solid bid to be an All-OVC competitor in smallbore with a 576.  Junior Mekenna Richardson matched Payne with a 576.  Junior David Sink and sophomore Zach Schmidt rounded out the JSU scorecard with scores of 568 and 567 respectively.

MSU's Ivan Roe claimed smallbore medalist honors with a top mark of 585, edging out another Racer, Ben Estes, who finished with a 584.

The 2018 OVC Rifle Championships continue on the MSU campus on Sunday with the air rifle competition.