Rifle: 2009-10 Schedule Announced
August 05, 2009 02:50 PM | General
August 5, 2009
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| Bryant Wallizer |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University Director of Athletics Ed Pastilong announced today the schedule for the upcoming 2009-10 rifle season.
The Mountaineers return to the WVU Rifle Range after capturing their 14th NCAA Championship title last March in Fort Worth, Texas.
“Coach Jon Hammond and the Mountaineers have put together a competitive schedule that should help them as they look to defend their national title,” Pastilong says. “Their championship run last season brought pride to the athletic department, and we’re excited to see what they can do this season.”
WVU’s slate once again features past national champions Alaska-Fairbanks (UAF) and Army. Additionally, the Mountaineers will face six Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) foes, including the Black Knights and defending-champion Kentucky, prior to the league championship, Feb. 27-28, 2010, in Oxford, Miss.
“I think Alaska and Kentucky will both be tough tests,” Hammond says. “We’re going to encounter a few tests throughout the season, and GARC will be another great championship as well. We have plenty to look forward to this year.”
The WVU-UAF home match on Jan. 21, 2010, pits the NCAA’s two most-decorated squads against one another for the seventh time since 2002. The Mountaineers overcame a program barrier and defeated the Nanooks, 4653-4634, last season at the WVU Rifle Range; the win was the team’s first over UAF since 1991. Combined, the two schools own 24 NCAA titles, including all but one since 1988.
Army, the 2005 NCAA champions, will travel to Morgantown on Nov. 14 for WVU’s home opener.
The Wildcats visit the WVU Rifle Range one week after the Black Knights on Nov. 21. The Mountaineers fell twice to UK last season, 4649-4639, in Lexington during the regular season, and 4650-4645, at the 2009 GARC Championship. WVU finished with an 11-1 record last year.
“Kentucky may have overtaken Alaska as the main match we will look forward to this season,” explains Hammond. “The matches we had with them last year were all really close. There has always been a rivalry with that team; that meeting is going to be a huge match.”
The Mountaineers open their season against Air Force on Oct. 10, in Lincoln, Neb. The Falcons are the only new addition to WVU’s schedule, and the match will be the first between the two schools since 1974.
“Air Force is an up-and-coming team. Their coach (Launi Meili) has really progressed the team a lot the last two seasons,” Hammond says. “It’s exciting for us to have them on the schedule and I am looking forward to the match.”
In total, the Mountaineers will host four matches this season, with the possibility of hosting an NCAA qualifying match on Feb. 13.
WVU welcomes back seven NRA All-Americans from its championship team, including redshirt senior Bryant Wallizer, a first team air rifle honoree. The squad’s lone senior, the Little Orleans, Md., native returns to the range after winning the air rifle title at the 2009 USA Shooting National Championship on June 16, at Ft. Benning’s International Shooting Complex.
| Date | Opponent | Time/Result |
| Oct. 10 | vs. Air Force (Lincoln, Neb.) | 8 a.m. |
| Oct. 11 | at Nebraska | 8 a.m. |
| Oct. 17 | at Ohio State | 8 a.m. |
| Oct. 18 | at Akron | 8 a.m. |
| Oct. 24 | Alumni Match | 8 a.m. |
| Nov. 14 | ARMY | 8 a.m. |
| Nov. 21 | KENTUCKY | 8 a.m. |
| Jan. 17 | N.C. STATE | 8 a.m. |
| Jan. 21 | ALASKA-FAIRBANKS | 8 a.m. |
| Jan. 30 | vs. Ole Miss (Cookeville, Tenn.) | 8 a.m. |
| Jan. 31 | vs. Memphis (Murray, Ky.) | 8 a.m. |
| Feb. 13 | NCAA Qualifiers (TBA) | All Day |
| Feb. 20-21 | at GARC Championships (Oxford, Miss.) | All Day |
| March 12-13 | NCAA Championships (Fort Worth, Texas) | All Day |