Rifle: Etzel Selected to State Hall of Fame
March 07, 2010 12:05 PM | General
March 7, 2010
WHEELING, W.Va.--Two Olympic gold medalists, including one a current world record holder and the other also a coach of five NCAA championship teams, have been selected for induction into the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
World shot put record-holder Randy Barnes and rifle gold medalist and championship coach Dr. Ed Etzel will be honored by the W. Va. Sports Writers Association at the 64th annual Victory Awards Dinner on May 2 in Morgantown.
Both honorees expressed surprise and humility when informed of the selection.
"That's wonderful news," Barnes said from his home in Mechanicsburg, Pa. "What a tremendous honor."
Etzel, a Morgantown resident and West Virginia U. athletic department staffer, said "what a pleasant surprise. I'm truly humbled by the honor."
Etzel, a native of New Haven, Conn., has been a Morgantown resident, and West Virginia U. athletic department staffer for 34 years after being named the Mountaineer rifle coach in 1976-77.
When the NCAA started sanctioning national rifle championships in 1980, Etzel guided WVU to runner-up finishes the first three seasons before leading the team to the first five of the school's 14 national championships, the most of any state college program.
He yielded his 11-year coaching position after the 1989 season but remained on staff in his current position as athletic department psychologist. Since retiring from coaching, Etzel has remained involved in the sport, serving as Secretary/Rules Editor on the NCAA rifle committee since 1980. He also is listed on the U. S. Olympic Committee Sport Psychology Registry. In 1984, at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Etzel became the first, and only, Mountain State rifle-shooter to win a gold medal with a victory in the men's smallbore prone event.
Meanwhile, Barnes, who was born in Charleston, has been a record-setter since he was a student at St. Albans High School.
After 25 years, he remains the all-time high school 12-pound shot put record holder with a 66-foot, 9.5-inch toss at the 1985 Gazette Relays. After placing second in the Class AAA shot as a sophomore, he won two straight gold medals including an all-class record 61-7 as a junior.
Barnes also won two straight state Class AAA discus titles after placing third as a sophomore. He set the state meet all-class record of 181-7 in 1985. The record lasted until 2008.
He attended Texas A&M University where he broke school records held by the legendary Randy Matson with a 16-pound shot put mark of 71-feet, 9.5-inches.
At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, he earned a silver medal with a toss of 73-feet, 5.5-inches. On January 20, 1989, he set the current world indoor record at the Sunkist Invitational in Los Angeles with a put of 74-feet, 4.25-inches.
On May 20, 1990, he set the current outdoor record with a throw of 75-feet, 10.25-inches. Two decades later, both world records stand.
However, his crowning achievement came at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Ga., where his final throw of 70-feet, 11.25-inches was better than two feet longer than the runner-up and earned him a gold medal.
Tickets for the Victory Awards Dinner will be availalbe from W. Va. Sports Writers Association members starting on March 22.
