The events of Frog Family Weekend give old and new friends a chance to catch up and shoot the breeze. Or, for the women’s rifle team, just shoot.The TCU rifle team will host its 15th annual Horned Frog Invitational this weekend, competing against New Mexico Military Institute, Nevada, Texas-El Paso and Texas A&M.

Some of the shooters said they have set individual goals of improvement.

“I am looking to give myself a good starting basis,” freshman Tanya Gorin said.

There is a slight advantage to shooting at home because each shooter knows the mechanics of the facility, Gorin said.

Head coach Karen Monez said Nevada and UTEP are nationally ranked in the top 10.

“We have to shoot against teams that are better than us if we want to raise our performance level,” Monez said.

For some shooters, this tournament is a chance to try something new.

“This is my first time to shoot a 60-shot air match,” junior Celeste Green said.

The tournament will consist of two matches – a standing, 60-shot air rifle match and a three-position, 60-shot smallbore match.

In the .22 caliber smallbore competition, 20 rounds are fired in each of the three positions: standing; kneeling; and prone, otherwise known as lying down. The air rifle shots are fired in the standing position only.

The distance between the shooter and the smallbore target is 50 feet, and the distance between the shooter and the air rifle target is 10 meters, according to the 2006 NCAA men’s and women’s rifle rules.

The team’s overall strength is in the air rifle match because many of the freshmen have experience in that area, Monez said.

Green is expected to lead the team in the tournament, especially in the smallbore competition, Monez said.

“Her All-American status was in her smallbore shoot; it’s where she excels,” Monez said.

While she anticipates good things from the team, Green said that being a good shooter relies on one’s own mental ability.

“I go into it with no expectations, focusing on one shot at a time,” Green said.

For each match, a shooter will have two targets that have 10 circles, or bulls.

Each bull has a potential score of 10 – a bull’s-eye – and each target has a possible score of 100.

Therefore, in each 60-shot match a shooter could have a perfect score of 600.

Gorin and Green said they want to improve their scores from last weekend.

“I plan to shoot a 575 in the air rifle match and somewhere between a 580 and a 585 in the smallbore,” Green said.

Green also said she predicts the team to finish among the top three.

The invitational will begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at the TCU rifle range.