Story by Keenan Hall
Staff writer
Murray State rifle’s senior class of 2019 closed the book on their extraordinary careers as Racers.
For starters, seniors Barbara Schläpfer, MacKenzie Martin, Alathea Sellars and Eric Sloan are the fifth Murray State senior class to win four OVC rifle titles. In addition to dominating the OVC, those championships led to four-straight NCAA Rifle Championship appearances.
Schläpfer, from Gais, Switzerland, had a productive four years as a Racer. She went from OVC Freshman of the Year in 2016 to being voted Rifle Athlete of the Year by the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association in 2019. As a senior, Schläpfer finished the regular season with the nation’s highest individual aggregate average with 1182.3 points per match.
She also shattered a few Murray State rifle records during her time here. After finishing the season with a 594.3 air rifle average, Schläpfer broke a school record. On Nov. 10, 2018, versus Ohio State University, she reached a personal best in air rifle, scoring a 599. That score is currently the highest air rifle score in school history.
“Our sport relies heavily on individual performance when you go anywhere else. It’s almost like being on our own,” Schläpfer said. “College is the only place where we can have a team like this in our sport.”
Martin, a Fairhaven, Massachusetts, native, was voted the OVC Smallbore Athlete of the Year in her junior year. Then she ended her career being named a CRCA All-American for the fourth year in a row after being voted to the first-team Smallbore team in 2019. She also finished her senior year with a 585.2 smallbore average.
Martin spoke about how her relationship with her teammates felt like a family.
“I am definitely going to miss the team thing, it’s like a family and it’s going to be weird not having that family,” Martin said. “Of course we have our real families but when it’s someone you see every morning it’s different. Now we are going on our own paths and I feel like I’m leaving a piece of me behind.”
Sellars, Martin and Schläpfer consoled one another after realizing once the NCAA championship match ended, they would no longer be teammates.
“It’s always been a really good atmosphere between us four,” Martin said. “We were like a family, and it was a nice moment because we all knew that it was the end of four years that we had together. Even though it was still bittersweet.”
Sellars also had a successful career at Murray State. She posted the second-best air rifle average on the team with 589.2 points per match. Sellars’ season-high in air rifle was 594 points against the Buckeyes.
In her last season, Sellars took a step back to appreciate this year’s class’s body of work as a whole.
“This last year really summed it all, four years, four seniors, and four rings,” Sellars said. “I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to experience that with Martin, Sloan and Schläpfer.”
Sellars gives credit to her classmates and her teammates for encouraging her to be the best version of herself.
“Whether at practice or in the classroom, these last four years have pushed me to be better every day,” Sellars said. “I’ll never forget the wins, but more importantly, I’ll never forget the amazing memories and friendships I made with my teammates.”
Sloan ended his career as a Racer averaging 582.7 points in air rifle. During a tightly-contested OVC Championship match, he contributed a critical 586 points in air rifle to help seal the win for his team.
“My career over the last four years has been an adventure, to say the least,” Sloan said. “I have had my ups and downs but overall I feel that it has been good.”
Sloan has been a intricate piece to the success of the team over his collegiate career. He will continue to cherish these years as he moves on from Murray State.
“The highlight of my career I would say is being part of a team that has won the OVC Championships the past four years in a row,” Sloan said. “It has been very educational and exciting getting to shoot for Murray State. The one thing that I will take away is to not give up and to just keep working hard every day because you never know when it will be your time to shine.”
Schläpfer glorified Sloan for the enthusiastic praise he gave to his teammates. She said the more successful the team was, the harder Sloan celebrated.
“Out of everyone on the team, Eric was the most uplifting and supportive,” Schläpfer said. “If we’re winning you can’t make anyone happier than Eric.”
Sloan’s and Sellars’ hard work shone in class as well as on the range. The duo was among the seven Racers voted as CRCA Scholastic All-Americans for achieving a 3.20 GPA this season. Sellars was also selected to the OVC commissioner’s honor roll for three consecutive years. Sloan was a member of the commissioner’s honor roll during his sophomore and junior years.
Although it is the end of Schläpfer and Martin’s careers as Racers, the All-Americans will continue to shoot for their native countries.
“First I have to get through recovery and then when I go home it’s straight to practice camp,” Schläpfer said. “Then about a month after I return home I have qualifiers for the European championships.”
As for Martin, her break between competition matches will be shorter than Schläpfer’s.
“I am continuing to shoot with the national team and I’m still sticking around to work with coach Lollar because he’s the best there is,” Martin said. “In a couple of days I am leaving to go to a national selection match in Georgia for a couple of World Cups.”
Schläpfer has enjoyed her time at Murray State and embodied the tradition student-athletes keep after they transition to the post-graduate world.
“One thing I will take with me as I go on the next chapter is, once a Racer always a Racer,” Schläpfer said.
