By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
MARTIN, Tenn. – The final day of the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference Rifle Championship took place today as the University of Tennessee at Martin piled up its best-ever OVC Championship air rifle performance and combined for seven all-conference mentions.
The Skyhawks earned 2,335 points today, which were six points better than their previous high air rifle mark at an OVC Championship (set last year). Murray State secured a score of 2,372 while Morehead State posted 2,354 points this morning and into the afternoon. Murray State’s John Blanton (597) finished atop the individual standings.
Overall, Murray State was crowned as 2023 OVC champions with 4,701 aggregate points. Morehead State generated a score of 4,660 while UT Martin was responsible for 4,609 points – its highest output in the league championship event since 2015.
The Skyhawks were led today by Alayna Walther, whose 592 points (99-98-99-99-99-98) were a career-high score. It marked the fourth time this season that the sophomore out of Avella, Pa. guided UT Martin in air rifle scoring.
Nick Fares tallied 590 points (99-99-98-97-98-99) while Joey Kovach posted 96-98-96-96-98-98 on the way to a 582. Victoria Petersen made her OVC Championship debut with 571 points (97-95-94-94-96-95) to round out the team scoring. Jesse Chamberlain (95-95-93-96-94-92; 565) also was part of the Skyhawk lineup today.
In aggregate scoring, Walther’s 1,163 points led UT Martin in that category for the seventh time in the 2022-23 campaign. Kovach (1,155), Fares (1,153) and Chamberlain (1,125) also competed in both smallbore and air rifle events over the weekend.
Following the conclusion of the tournament, the league announced its All-OVC award winners. Walther brought home All-OVC air rifle first team accolades and All-OVC smallbore second team honors after she was named an OVC All-Newcomer in both events last season. Fares captured the fifth All-OVC award of his storied career as the Springboro, Ohio native was named to the 2023 All-OVC air rifle second team. Kovach dialed up three accolades as the freshman out of Bedford, Pa. was named All-OVC second team in smallbore and an OVC All-Newcomer in both air rifle and smallbore. Jeffrey Bourassa was the Skyhawks’ fourth All-OVC recipient as the freshman from Manassas, Va. earned OVC smallbore All-Newcomer status.
UT Martin will take almost two weeks off before making the short trip to Murray State for a NCAA Qualifier matchup on Feb. 18 at 9 a.m.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information