Daily Skiff

The university rifle team is aiming to start the semester off right with a victory over the Air Force Academy on Saturday.

The team will travel to Colorado Springs, Colo. to take on what senior Tanya Gorin described as a rebuilding team.

"I know that they lost some seniors and they are rebuilding," Gorin said. "I think we have a pretty good edge on them."

Gorin also said that she used Christmas break to refocus and do a little bit of mental training. However, her teammate, junior Erin Lorenzen, said that she spent her break practicing shooting for the National Development team in Colorado Springs.

Lorenzen also said that the team practiced shooting and mental exercises after returning to campus. She said the exercises consisted of mental imaging, confidence building and performing well under pressure.

Coach Karen Monez said that shooters do not lose a lot of technical skills during a short break.

"Sometimes it's good if you put the gun up for a while," Monez said. "If you picked up a few bad habits, technical habits, sometimes it's helpful to take that break, come back and start over fresh."

Monez said that although Air Force has shown improvement, the Horned Frogs have remained consistent.

"Technically, we're a much better team right now than Air Force as a group," Monez said.

The Horned Frogs will actually compete against Air Force twice during their trip to Colorado. Following their initial match on Saturday, the two teams will meet again Sunday at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

Following Air Force, the Horned Frogs will travel to Nebraska on Jan. 24. Their next home match is scheduled for Feb. 7 against the University of Texas at El Paso.

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