Rifle: WVU Coach to Compete at World Cup
May 04, 2007 09:50 AM | General
May 4, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University Rifle coach Jon Hammond earned a spot to compete on Great Britain’s rifle team at the World Cup held in Munich, Germany, May 28-June 4.
Hammond participated in the USA Spring Selection event for the Pan-American Games held April 8-15 in Fort Benning, Ga. The Aberdeen, Scotland, native shot 1148, 1157 and 1157 points in the 50 meter, three position event. He registered 591 points, 596 points and 595 points in the prone 60-shot match.
Hammond will shoot in the three position competition as well as compete in prone in Munich.
Four World Cup events are held each year with the winners receiving invitations to the Olympics. Hammond is setting his sights on the 2012 Games in London.
Coming to the close of his first year as head coach of the Mountaineers, Hammond has recently begun training again.
“I just started doing a little bit of training at the end of last year, mostly in the mornings when I had a bit of spare time,” he said. “I kind of surprised myself at the spring selection match. Hopefully I can do well over the summer and go from there.”
While Hammond is excited about the opportunity to compete against some of the best shooters in the world, he also thinks his experience will help at the Mountaineer Rifle range.
“I think the World Cup experience will help recruiting wise,” he said. “I think it will be good for the student-athletes to have a coach that is out there shooting in world matches. I might be able to help them more because I am still shooting.”
