University of the Sciences in Philadelphia senior shooter Michelle Bauer has qualified for the 2008 NCAA Rifle National Championship to be held at the United State Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., on March 14-15.
Bauer will join 47 other competitors who will compete for the individual smallbore and air rifle titles at the upcoming national championships. She is the first USP student-athlete to qualify for an individual NCAA national championship event. All together, eight teams qualified for the national championships. In addition to the shooters from those eight teams, Bauer was one of five individuals chosen to shoot at the championships in both smallbore and air rifle to bring the total number of competitors up to its maximum number of 48.
“This is going to be a wonderful way for Michelle to finish her college career,” said USP Head Coach Paul Klimitas. “I can not imagine a better way for a student-athlete to compete in a match that represents the pinnacle of athletic achievement in their sport. It’s a great opportunity for Michelle.”
In the three-position smallbore competition, Bauer turned in her best score of the season in USP’s NCAA qualifying match last Saturday at the Colonel William Shea rifle range on campus. Her two stand cards of 98, 98 (196 total) was the highest stand score in the country in an NCAA qualifier match. She also shot prone cards of 97 and 96 (193) and kneel cards of 95 and 96 (191) for a total smallbore score of 580.
Bauer set a school record and career-best mark of 586 in qualifying for air rifle with shot cards of 98, 99, 96, 98, 97, and 98.
Individual and team competitions in smallbore three-position (60 shots) will be held Friday, March 14. Individual and team competitions in air rifle (60 shots) will be held Saturday, March 15. The overall team champion will be determined by combining the smallbore and air rifle team totals into one aggregate score for each institution.
A pharmacy major at USP, Bauer is in her fourth and final season of competition for the Devils.