Rifle: WVU Slips to No. 3
March 02, 2009 03:35 PM | General
March 2, 2009
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| Tommy Santelli |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Following its second-place finish at the Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) Championships, the West Virginia University rifle team is ranked No. 3 on the official NCAA qualifying rankings.
Team rankings are comprised of the team’s top three scores, with no more than one score taken from one location. The average of those scores is then added to the team’s designated qualifier score for the official total.
The Mountaineers are ranked No. 3 with an official qualifying score of 9310.33. The 2009 GARC champion, Kentucky, is No. 1 with a score of 9329.33, while Jacksonville State is No. 2 with a score of 9310.33. Three-time defending champion Alaska-Fairbanks trails WVU at No. 4 with a 9283.33 score, and championship host TCU is No. 5 with a qualifying score of 9249.00.
“The drop in ranking is not a concern for us right now,” says Coach Jon Hammond. “Anything can happen at the championships. Obviously, Kentucky deserves its No. 1 ranking right now.
“Jacksonville and Kentucky are going to be teams to watch out for next week, as is Alaska-Fairbanks. You can not rule any of those teams out. We have our work cut out for us, so we are just going to keep working away this week, and hopefully come home with a championship next week.”
WVU finished second at the conference championships on March 1 with an aggregate score of 4645. The Mountaineers finished first in air rifle (2350) and second in smallbore (2295). The Wildcats won the title with a score of 4650.
The finish is the team’s best since the Mountaineers took second at the 2003 championships.
Individually, sophomore Tommy Santelli finished first overall with the top combined score of 1169 (591 air, 578 smallbore). The Prosperity, Pa., native finished second in air rifle with a score of 693.8. Classmate Brandi Eskew had the top WVU smallbore finish, taking fourth place with a score of 676.
The Mountaineers next travel to Fort Worth, Texas, for the NCAA Championships, held March 13-14 at the TCU Rifle Range and the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
