On Tuesday afternoon, the ACC officially canceled the remainder of winter and spring sports activities, both competition and practice, for the 2019-20 school year in a press release, with hopes to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Freshman Makenzie Sheffield will be heading to Lexington, Kentucky, for the NCAA Championship. She will compete in the air rifle event held on Sunday, March 14 along with three other athletes.
On Thursday afternoon, the ACC “suspended all athletic related activities including competition, formal and organized practice, recruiting and participation in NCAA championships until further notice. The decision was made following consultation with the league’s presidents and athletic directors to mitigate the further spread of COVID-19.”
The NC State rifle concluded its NCAA Regional Qualifier in Charleston, S.C. by edging out Alabama-Birmingham by a score of 4644-4597, which when combined with the 4633 average from its top-three finishes over the regular season, gave the Wolfpack a score of 9312.
The No. 12 NC State rifle team will be going to Charleston, South Carolina on Feb. 22 to compete in the NCAA Qualifiers. This event determines who gets to go to the NCAA National Championship in Kentucky and whether the team goes or only individuals.
Sunday was a bittersweet day for the No. 12 NC State rifle team, as it narrowly lost out on a marquee win at home in Reynolds Coliseum over No. 7 Nebraska 4,685-4,663. But despite the loss, the Wolfpack posted its third-best outing of the season, and raised its NCAA qualifying score going into NCAA qualifiers.
This weekend, the NC State rifle team is traveling to take on back-to-back road opponents. In the first match Saturday, the Pack faces No. 6 Mississippi. This is a match that NC State needs to win, as its four previous matchups have ended in defeat. However, all four of those defeats did come against top-15 ranked opponents. Mississippi is also coming off a loss from its previous match against then-No. 8 Navy.
The No. 13 NC State rifle team traveled to West Point, New York this past weekend and lost a pair of top-15 matchups. The Wolfpack (3-5) was defeated by No. 3 Kentucky 4715-4638 and No. 12 Army 4670-4629.
Fall competition ends for the NC State rifle team with the winter airgun championships, hosted in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Four athletes participated for the Pack and competed in the open competition and junior competition.