Northside's Huber takes shooting ability to Murray State

Northside's Shelby Huber tried out for the mainstream sports when he was younger. He tried to play baseball, he tried a few others, but nothing really stuck.

Not until his mom signed him up for a junior rifle program at Fort Benning around his eighth grade year.

"It all started from there," Huber explained on Tuesday. "I loved it, and I progressed through the ranks of shooting and eventually got to where I am now."

He signed a college scholarship with Murray State's rifle program during a ceremony on Tuesday at the school.

Four other athletes -- Austin Kidd (Columbus State cross country/track), Noah Churchwell (CSU cross country/track), Morgan Miller (Georgia Southwestern State cross country) and Jalen Latta (CSU baseball) also signed at the ceremony.

Murray State, located in Kentucky, is currently ranked No. 4 in the entire country for rifle, but that wasn't the only thing that drew Huber to the program.

"I was looking at (Kentucky), but I thought that was just a bigger school than I wanted," he said. "I liked Murray State for a little smaller-town feel.

"They're also ranked No. 4 right now, so I look forward to helping improve that."

Huber has piled up accolades while in high school at Northside. Most recently, as a junior, he was a member of the state championship rifle team and named to All-State.

He had the highest individual average for Area 1-AAAAA in the regular season at 291, and was named the All-Bi-City co-shooter of the year.

He will compete one more season with Northside before moving on to the Division-I ranks.

"It's really cool," he said. "To get to this point, you get to travel around. I'll leave for Colorado in a week for another competition. It's just a great experience and a great feeling. I know I've worked hard for it."

This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 9:46 PM with the headline "Northside's Huber takes shooting ability to Murray State ."