Rifle: Mountaineers Finish Regular Season On Top
February 10, 2007 07:56 PM | General
February 10, 2007
MEET RESULTS
LEXINGTON, Va. – The West Virginia University rifle team finished the regular season with a 4566-4370 victory over the Virginia Military Institute today.
Lafe Kunkel shot the team’s highest smallbore mark of the day as he totaled 576 points. Amy Smith summed 572 points and Brian Launer registered 566 points. Paul Miller rounded out the score with 555 points to contribute to West Virginia’s 2297 smallbore total.
WVU (6-4, 2-4) emerged with a 100-plus point advantage after the air rifle competition (2297-2195) to clinch the win. Kunkel again shot the team’s highest score (577) while Launer recorded 576 points. Adam Somers, shooting for the first time this season as a counting member, summed 571 points.
Today’s match also served as NCAA qualifiers for the Mountaineers. The NCAA will announce which teams and individuals will compete at the tournament on Feb. 20. The 2007 NCAA Championships will be held March 9-10 in Fairbanks, Alaska.
This year’s 6-4 overall record marks the first time West Virginia has had a winning record since the 2002 season when the team went 11-2.
“It’s great to have a winning record again,” said WVU coach Jon Hammond. “The team is very happy. We’ve had a good year and hopefully we can continue to build on it.”
The Mountaineers will next travel to the Great American Rifle Conference championships held Feb. 24-25 in Oxford, Miss.
