Checking in With the Champs
June 11, 2009 10:01 AM | General
June 11, 2009
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| Jon Hammond |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - To hear West Virginia University rifle coach Jon Hammond tell the story, the Mountaineer squad that returns to the range next fall has a long road of work ahead of it.
“We’re all going to sit down and talk about the upcoming season this fall. We can not forget that we lost a match last year,” Hammond said, alluding to the fact that, yes, the Mountaineers did lose one match last year. One.
“We still need to get some revenge against Kentucky,” he continued, referencing the lone team to defeat WVU in not only a shoulder-to-shoulder match, but also at the 2009 Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) Championship. “It’s not going to be easy. I will make the team aware that next year will not be an easy ride throughout the season.”
And with that, Hammond succinctly threw away any notion that WVU’s 14th national champion team would live the life fit for a king – not that the squad would have it any other way.
Faced with the typical three month summer break that college students thirst for, the Mountaineers have approached the off-months in a varied fashion. Though each student-athlete is spending his downtime as he chooses, they all have one common goal – to reconvene in the WVU Rifle Range in August as an even stronger group, and to chase after that 15th title.
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| Bryant Wallizer |
Senior Bryant Wallizer is among those that believe the extra time he spends in the range this summer will pave the way for a bright future in the sport, most immediately in his final season with the Mountaineers.
Wallizer, the squad’s top air rifle shooter with a 588.70 average, had an immediate impact on the team during his first season at WVU. After sitting out the 2007-08 campaign with a redshirt following his transfer from Murray State, the Little Orleans, Md., native proved to be worth the wait, as he finished second in the air rifle with 691 points at the NCAA Championship. For his efforts, he was named a National Rifle Association (NRA) air rifle first team All-American.
Driven by last season’s success, and his desires to surpass those achievements, Wallizer finds himself in the range more than others.
“I don’t like to go any longer than one week without training,” Wallizer recently said. “I’ve been doing a little more training than everyone else because I’m getting ready to shoot at the 2009 USA Shooting National Championship (in Ft. Benning, Ga.). I took about one week off this summer, and two immediately following the NCAA Championship in March.
“I’ve been training pretty much every day, but I’m trying to keep my schedule balanced so I don’t get burnt out.”
Wallizer’s self-imposed intense schedule revolves around his determination to continue shooting once his Mountaineer career is over.
“The thing that keeps me motivated is that I’m looking to compete after college,” he answered when asked how he can dedicate so much time to his sport. “I’ve been talking about possibly living in Colorado Springs (near the USA Olympic Complex) to train with the national team. That keeps me motivated and pushes me to compete with the top level shooters.
“I’m just always setting my hopes higher and higher, and pushing myself to that next level.”
Wallizer will not be alone in Georgia, as junior Tommy Santelli and sophomore Michael Kulbacki will also compete at the championship, though each is approaching the competition from different angles.
“The competition is going to be tough,” Santelli mused. “I want to see how I stack up against the rest of the country. I’m going to use this as a measuring stick to see where I am.”
Santelli, a 2009 NRA second team smallbore and air rifle All-American, is also hoping to schedule a few months of relaxation into his summer vacation as well.
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| Tommy Santelli |
“Although I haven’t been in the range this summer as frequently as I am in-season, the time I have spent practicing has been more intense,” the Prosperity, Pa., native said. “I’m trying to get a healthy mix of vacation and training. Thankfully, it will be nice in Georgia, so I’m going to treat it like my vacation, too.”
Kulbacki, a key contributor to the Mountaineers’ championship run and a NRA second team air rifle All-American, is simply hoping that his time in Georgia will only aide in his development as a collegiate shooter.
“I’m just looking to go down and shoot some matches and gain more experience,” the DuBois, Pa., native said. “I took a break from training right after NCAAs and only started to train these last few weeks in preparation for nationals. I’m going down there expecting to shoot the best I can.”
Junior Kyle Smith, a 2009 NRA first team smallbore All-American, is veering away from his normal summer training habits, swapping out the hours he used to spend at the range for time behind the desk.
“Normally, I train more in the summer, but I’m enjoying my vacation this year,” Smith, also a native of DuBois, said. “I’m interning at a doctor’s office right now. It’s nice to get away from it all, but I’m going to travel back to Morgantown before school starts to schedule some training.”
The varied approaches to summer practice do not faze Hammond.
“I think the training patterns should be approached on an individual basis,” he said. “A break is a good thing to have; there’s no preference for me. I think it would be great if everyone was on the Olympic team and training all of the time, but I know that’s never going to happen.
“I’m happy with the choices everyone is making. We’ll have plenty of time in the fall to train before matches start.”
No matter how the Mountaineers spend their summer months, each will return to Morgantown with well-wishes received from family, friends and former coaches.
“I ran into my old coach right after the NCAA Championship and he congratulated me for doing such a good job,” Wallizer explained. “I’m really happy that I had the chance to see him. He told me he knew I was going to do well in college, and he was very proud.”
Kulbacki, who is also balancing work with the Sandy Township municipal staff, said that he was a bit shell-shocked when his coworkers began offering warm wishes.
“Everybody already knew about the championship when I go my job,” he laughed. “They either read about it in the newspaper, or my boss told them.
“Getting congratulated has not gotten old yet. I’m still soaking it all in.”
Santelli said that he hopes the experience he has already gained in his two seasons at WVU will help foster the development of future collegiate shooters.
“I’ve gone back to my club (Fraizer-Simplex) and tried to pass on my knowledge to them,” he said.
“I think going home and receiving those congratulations is a massive confidence boost for all of them, especially finishing the season like we did,” Hammond said. “It should give them that extra motivation to come back and repeat next season. There was a reward for all of the hard work they did last season.
“For sure, there’s going to be a confidence boost next year, and the team will have to learn from it and grow from it and come back stronger next year.”
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| Kyle Smith |
For their part, the Mountaineers are anxiously awaiting that chance to not only repeat as champions, but to improve on the few missteps they made this past season.
“We lost to Kentucky twice last year. We can improve next year by not losing, ever,” Wallizer emphatically stated. “Also, I think we should go into the NCAA Championship next year as the favorite. We don’t lose anyone from the team next year, and we’re going to come back even stronger.
“Also, I’m looking for that individual air rifle championship. It got away from me this year, but that won’t happen next season. I’m hungry for it.”
Smith agreed with Wallizer, even going as far as to say that the Mountaineers did not show all of their cards last season.
“Hopefully we send more individual qualifiers to the NCAA Championship next year,” he said. “We have a much better smallbore team than we showed last season. We can do better; I know we will do better.”
With his team individually preparing itself to defend its championship next year, Hammond is afforded the peace of mind that only accompanies the hardware earned at a national match.
“Our fans and supporters have been really happy to see the success we achieved last season, and that’s really nice,” he said. “There’s also more attention given to the program, both here and abroad. The exposure is always helpful.
“I’m just really happy for all of our supporters. I think we’re satisfied with what the team achieved and the pleasure it’s given to everyone else. But we know there is no room for slacking. We will be prepared to defend next year
