Hicks ’24 Breaks VMI Air Rifle Record

VMI sophomore Christopher Hicks ’24 broke the VMI air rifle record Nov. 7 as the mixed rifle team fell to Nebraska at Kilbourne Hall.

The Culpeper, Virginia, native shot a 587 in the air rifle to break the previous record held by Andrew Hickey ’17 and Hunter Jacob’s [’20] 582 score from the 2017-18 season.

Nebraska earned the team win with 4689 aggregate points (2333 smallbore, 2356 air rifle) to defeat VMI’s score of 4523 (2213 smallbore, 2310 air rifle).

Hicks led the way in the air rifle segment with his 587 to place fourth overall and was followed by Samantha Reid’s [’22] seventh-place mark of 577. Savanah Diamond ’22 shot a 576 for eighth place in the standings, and Austin Rheuby ’25 also scored points for the team with his ninth-place total of 571 points.

A host of other Keydets competed in the air rifle category, including Simon Krauthamer ’22, Philip Frey ’24, Jessica Hankin ’22, Ryan Harlow ’24, J. Nathaniel Gardner ’22, Kolton Dobson ’23, and Michael Annesi ’25.

Hankin led the Keydets in the smallbore segment with a seventh-place mark of 559 and was followed by Harlow’s eighth-place tally of 554 points. Dobson logged a 554 for ninth place in the standings, and Stephen Garner ’23 shot a 553 for 10th place overall.

Krauthamer shot a 547 smallbore for 11th place overall, and Rheuby earned a 12th-place total of 546 points.

Annesi, Gardner, and Frey also competed for VMI in the smallbore.

The Keydets returned to action at Kilbourne Hall Nov. 14, hosting the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The Blazers came in first with 4562 aggregate points (2253 SB, 2309 AR) and was followed by the VMI mixed team with 4527 points (2217 SB, 2310 AR). The VMI women came in third with 4382 points (2108 SB, 2274 AR).

Team Scores
Nebraska – 2333 SB, 2356 AR – 4689
VMI – 2213 SB, 2310 AR – 4523

VMI Smallbore Scores
Jessica Hankin – 7th – 559
Ryan Harlow – 8th – 554
Kolton Dobson – 9th – 554
Stephen Garner – 10th – 553
Simon Krauthamer – 11th – 547
Austin Rheuby – 12th – 546
Michael Annesi – 13th – 544
J. Nathaniel Gardner – 14th – 531
Philip Frey – 15th – 508

VMI Air Rifle Scores
Christopher Hicks – 4th – 587 ds
Samantha Reid – 7th – 577
Savanah Diamond – 8th – 576
Austin Rheuby – 9th – 571
Simon Krauthamer – 10th – 570
Philip Frey – 11th – 569
Jessica Hankin – 12th – 568
Ryan Harlow – 13th – 565
J. Nathaniel Gardner – 14th – 554
Kolton Dobson – 15th – 552
Michael Annesi – 16th – 546

Editor’s Note: This article was published first at vmikeydets.com.