Rifle Adds Two Quality Shooters for 2023-24

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Two quality shooters and student-athletes are slated to join the Morehead State Rifle team beginning with the 2023-24 season.

Mara Koenig, from Yorktown, Va., and Cooper Gray, from Parker, Colo., signed National Letters of Intent to join head coach Alan Joseph's Eagles.

Koenig, who goes to Tabb High School in Virginia (same school as current Eagle Danielle Vigil), started in the sport at age 12 at the Lafayette Gun Club. She has received the NRA Distinguished Expert Award and competed in Sporter rifle during the 2019-20 year. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she began competing in Precision Rifle. Koenig competed in the Junior Olympics in 2022 and 2023.

She has competed in the USA Shooting and CMP National Championships, Winter Air Gun, and Smallbore Rifle Nationals. During her junior year she was selected as team captain of her Junior Rifle Team. Koenig has been enrolled in Honors classes throughout her high school career and has been a member of her high school Navy JROTC program for four years. Koenig's personal bests include 590 in Three Position Air Rifle, 589 in Air Rifle 60 shots, and 572 in Smallbore Three Position. She plans to major in nursing at MSU.

Gray attends Legend High School in Colorado. He began his rifle career at Boy Scout summer camp, then began shooting Air Rifle and Smallbore with the Cherry Creek Gun Club Junior Team in Denver in 2018. Coached by Gary Trisdale, he qualified for Junior Olympics in 2021 and 2023 as the top scoring male in Colorado for his age group of U18 (15-18). Gray has been competing in NRA outdoor Smallbore Prone matches since 2020 and is the 2022 NRA Jr. Prone Champion for Colorado. His high score in Air is 582, and his high score in Smallbore is 556.

Gray will graduate with Honors from LHS. He has served as an officer and four-year letterman in band and the Technology Student Association, as well as participating in the English Honor Society. In 2022 he earned the distinction of Eagle Scout. His intent is to major in Space Systems Engineering at Morehead State University.