Rifle: Hammond Named GARC Coach of the Year
February 19, 2010 09:45 PM | General
February 19, 2010
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| Jon Hammond |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University rifle coach Jon Hammond was named the Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) Coach of the Year this evening at the conference awards banquet in Oxford, Miss.
The honor is the second in three seasons for the four-year Mountaineer coach. Hammond first won the award in 2008.
In addition to Hammond’s recognition, WVU earned a total of 18 all-GARC honors, including eight first team awards for five different Mountaineers. Both totals are program-best marks.
“We had some great individual performances this year and it is always nice to be recognized for those achievements,” Hammond says. “It’s gratifying to see how many awards this team earned this season.
“I’m grateful for the team’s hard work this season. If they don’t win, I don’t get recognized. It all starts with their efforts.”
Senior Bryant Wallizer, junior Andy Lamson and sophomore Michael Kulbacki were selected to the all-GARC air rifle and combined score first teams. The teammates the first Mountaineers to earn two first team awards since Tommy Caranasos and Cory Willis were named to all three teams in 2000.
The air rifle honor is the second-consecutive for Wallizer, while the combined score award is Lamson’s second-straight. Kulbacki had previously only earned second-team recognition.
Juniors Brandi Eskew and Tommy Santelli were each named to the all-GARC smallbore first team, their first career first team recognition.
Santelli was also selected to the air rifle and combined score second teams, while Lamson also earned smallbore second team honors. Additionally, sophomore Justin Pentz earned all-GARC smallbore and combined score second team honors.
WVU collected five honorable mention awards this evening. Wallizer, Kulbacki and junior Kyle Smith were placed on the smallbore squad, while Pentz earned air rifle honors and Eskew secured a spot on the combined score team.
In addition to his three all-GARC awards, Lamson, an ESPN The Magazine academic All-America third team selection, was also named a GARC Scholar-Athlete. The award is the third consecutive for the Colchester, Vt., native.
“This team’s dedication in the range has been great this year,” Hammond says. “Hopefully we can maintain our focus this weekend and secure the conference title.”
Kentucky’s Ashley Jackson was named the GARC Shooter of the Year and Senior of the Year. UK’s Katie Fretts earned GARC Rookie of the Year honors.
The Mountaineers (11-0, 7-0 GARC) enter the 2010 GARC Championships as the conference’s regular-season champions. WVU owns a 17-match regular-season win streak and is the first team since the 2001 Mountaineer squad to enter the postseason undefeated. Additionally, WVU has yet to drop a discipline match this season.
The Mountaineers have not won a conference title since earning three-straight from 1998-2000; at the time, the GARC was known as the Midwest-America Rifle Conference.
This evening’s awards were based on season averages. Shooters had to compete in at least six matches to qualify for the honors.
Tomorrow’s championships will open at 7:30 a.m. CT at the Patricia C. Lamar National Guard Readiness Center, and will run through Sunday afternoon. The smallbore competition will coincide with the championships’ opening, with the finals set for 5:30 p.m. The air rifle tournament will start at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, with the finals to follow at 12:30 p.m. Sunday.
