CRESSON, Pa. – Over this past weekend, the Mount Aloysius Rifle team finished up their inaugural campaign with a conference championship. They competed in their first Mid-Atlantic Rifle Conference Championship weekend, which was hosted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The team won both Air Rifle and Smallbore competitions, which resulted in winning the overall championship with the highest aggregate score.

The Mounties opened up the weekend, on Saturday, in the Smallbore portion. Kayla Trinkle (Zionsville, Pa. / Southern Lehigh) led the Mounties with a score of 569, which was the highest score of all competitors. The Mounties also got top five scores from Elissa Barron (Hooversville, Pa. / North Star) and Sydney Castel (Portage, Pa. / Portage), who finished fourth and fifth respectively. Barron shot a score of 560, while Castel shot a 554.

With three of the top five scores, the Mounties shot a total score of 2233, which was the top Smallbore score. They finished 30 points ahead of Rhode Island, who came in second place. Norwich was third with a 2176. Mount Aloysius was crowned the Smallbore Champions, while Trinkle took home the Individual title.

Mount Aloysius returned on Sunday to compete in the Air Rifle competition, hoping to bring home more hardware. This time, Molly Miller (Alum Bank, Pa. / Chestnut Ridge) led the Mounties with a high score of 593, giving her top Individual Air Rifle honors. Miller was not the only Mountie in the top five, as Trinkle finished second with a 587, and Barron and Castel both shot a score of 572, tying for fifth place.

With four scores in the top five, the Mounties continued their dominance, shooting a score of 2324, more than 60 points ahead of MIT, the second-place team. Combining their two scores, Mount Aloysius finished with a score of 4557, which was the top score and earned the Team Aggregate Title.

By virtue of finishing as the top shooter in each event, Trinkle was named the conference's Athlete of the Year, and Top Individual Aggregate Champion. Miller also scored high enough to finish in a tie for second place overall, as the Aggregate Runner-up, while also earning the Rookie of the Year award. Barron just missed out on the podium, as she finished fourth with an overall score of 1132.

In addition to the conference championship, the end of season conference awards were handed out at the event. Miller was awarded the Achievement Award in Air Rifle. Barron, Miller, and Trinkle were all named First Team All-Conference, in both events, while Castel was named Second Team All-Conference in Air Rifle. Samantha Hayman (Berlin, Pa. / Berlin Brothersvalley) earned All-MAC Rookie Team honors in both events, while she was also joined by Sydney Castel in Smallbore.

The Conference Championship is the Mounties' last event of the season, as they just missed out on having any NCAA Qualifiers. Miller just narrowly missed out on qualifying, as she shot a 594-47x in Air Rifle, during the NCAA Qualifier match at Akron, on February 22.