Horned Frog rifle season kicks off Sept. 25
9/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rifle
Sept. 20, 2004
Fort Worth - Veteran of numerous national and interanational rifle competitions, Karen Monez takes over the reins of a very young TCU rifle team.
Coach Monez says her goal for this year's team is to build a program that is competitive in the collegiate shooting arena. But first she wants to be able to provide an atmosphere where the team can thrive.
Out of a team of six, only three have any collegiate rifle competition experience. Only one shooter, Nikki LeCompte has competed an entire season. Senior Dana O'Shea struggled with injuries the last two seasons, but is expected to shoot all season, and Emily Conway joined the team late in the season and only shot in two meets.
Coach Monez says this year's team will focus on rebuilding after the loss of prolific shooters Celeste Green, who transfered to West Point, and Nina Martinez, who used all her eligibility.
Sophomore Suzanne Bush was a walk-on late in the season last year and looks to improve as the season progesses. She is a member of Army ROTC and that experience should help with her rifle scores.
Freshmen Erin Lemmons and Leah Neubauer are expected to add depth and move up to the competition team with practice improvement. Leah strengthened her smallbore skills over the summer and is expected to improve more during the season. Erin has the dedication and work ethic needed to become a team leader.
Because of the small size of the team, Coach Monez will not separate them into the Purple and White competition teams at the start of the season, instead there will be a competition team of four shooters along with alternates at each meet.
Coach Monez strengthened this year's schedule. Texas A&M, UMKC, Nebraska, West Virginia and Texas-El Paso are the new additions to the schedule. The team will continue to host the Horned Frog Invitational the first weekend in October. The biggest change comes at the end of the season when the team will compete in the NRA Sectionals instead of the NCAA Sectionals that TCU hosted regularly.
The team travels to Memphis for the Tiger Open Saturday, Sept. 25 and then to Oxford, Miss. for the Ole Miss Open Sept. 26.
Players Mentioned
