May 19, 2010 8:57:31 AM

The NCAA Men's and Women's Rifle Committee is recommending no longer publishing an NCAA Rifle Rules Book and instead adopting playing rules from USA Shooting. 

The proposal must be approved by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel, which next meets via conference call June 2.

While the two rules books are not significantly different, USA Shooting rules do address modern competition in one particular way.

"Over the past few years, electronic targets and electronic scoring has gotten to the point where most teams are shooting on electronic targets now," said committee chair Newt Engle, rifle coach at Akron. "The NCAA rules book had started to address this, but we would have to significantly update the rules that would govern electronic targets. The USA Shooting rules for electronic targets are already in place."

USA Shooting Rules are also the same ones used in world-wide competition.

"When we are recruiting international athletes, or even junior athletes in the U.S., these are the rules they have been using since they were old enough to shoot," Engle added. "It will make it easier for the student-athletes and coaches to work from one rule book."

In other items on the agenda, the committee approved having five shooters compete in each team discipline as opposed to four.

If approved by the Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet, a collegiate rifle contest will consist of five athletes with the top four scores counting. The rule would apply to the championships, the national qualifier and all regular-season matches. The cabinet will discuss the issue at its September meeting.

"This gives everyone some flexibility if someone gets ill or has a bad day," Engle said.

The committee has also approved moving the NCAA qualifier meet back a week. The change would reduce the time between the qualifier and the national championship to three weeks instead of four. If approved by the cabinet, the change would take effect in the 2011-12 season.