No. 1 WVU Rifle Qualifies for NCAAs
February 25, 2009 12:01 PM | General
February 25, 2009
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| Kyle Smith |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 1 WVU rifle team has qualified for the NCAA Championships, as announced by the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Rifle Committee yesterday.
The tournament is scheduled for March 13-14 at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas. All-day competition will be held at the TCU Rifle Range and the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
The Mountaineers (11-1 overall, 5-1 GARC) move on to the national championships after shooting 4639 in their NCAA qualifying match win over NC State (4524) on Feb. 24. That score was worth 50 percent of the Mountaineers’ total qualifying score. The other half, a score of 4664, was determined prior to the qualifying match and was based on the squad’s top three point totals from this season, with each achieved at a different venue.
“It’s nice to know that we have the chance to compete,” says Coach Jon Hammond. “I don’t think it changes anything – it’s been our goal to go to the championships all season. We’re just going to keep going with our normal prep this week and get ready for the GARC Championships.”
WVU qualified as one of the top eight teams in both the smallbore and air rifle events. The other team qualifiers are: Alaska-Fairbanks, Jacksonville State, Kentucky, Nevada, TCU, Army and Navy. Additionally, sophomore Kyle Smith individually qualified for the smallbore competition. If Smith shoots with the WVU smallbore squad at the championships, one of his teammates will have the chance to compete individually.
The Mountaineers will compete at the championships for the second-straight season. The team made its first appearance since 2002 last year and finished in sixth place with a score of 4616.
WVU is the winningest program in NCAA history, having won 13 championships since 1983. The team won its last title in 1998.
Three-time defending champion Alaska-Fairbanks trails WVU with 10 titles. The Mountaineers defeated the Nanooks, 4653-4634, on Jan. 25 at the WVU Rifle Range. The win was the team’s first over UAF since 1991.
WVU competes at the GARC Conference Championships before returning to the national stage. The team travels to Oxford, Miss., for the tournament this Friday, Feb. 27, with competition set for Saturday, Feb. 28, and Sunday, March 1, at the Patricia C. Lamar National Guard Readiness Center
