Rifle: Zublasing, Kyanko Earn Top GARC Honors
February 24, 2012 10:06 PM | General
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia junior Petra Zublasing and redshirt-freshman Thomas Kyanko were named the Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) Shooter and Rookie of the Year, respectively, this evening, at the GARC Championships Banquet, in Oxford, Miss.
The awards were handed out on the eve of the 2012 GARC Championships, set for Feb. 25-26, at Mississippi’s Patricia C. Lamar National Guard Readiness Center. The No. 2-ranked Mountaineers (12-2, 5-1 GARC) will shoot for their third consecutive conference title.
Zublasing, an Appiano, Italy, native, is the second straight Mountaineer, and the fourth overall, to earn the conference’s top distinction. All-American Nicco Campriani, the 2011 national air rifle champion, earned the award last year.
Kyanko, a native of Wellsburg, W.Va., is the third Mountaineer to score the rookie award; April Shea last won the honor for WVU in 1999.
“This was a good night, especially with such a young team, and it sets us up well for the weekend,” says coach Jon Hammond. “It was nice to see Thomas get honored, and we had a few rookies pick up some All-GARC awards, too. I was happy to see everyone get recognized for their efforts throughout the year – we worked hard and developed a lot.”
Zublasing, a 2011 first team air rifle All-American, finished the season with the conference’s top air rifle (597.75), smallbore (589.0) and combined score (1186.75) season averages. She was named to all three all-conference first teams and was the only Mountaineer to score a first-team honor.
Kyanko also was named to the smallbore and combined score honorable mention All-GARC teams. He finished the regular season with a 577.62 smallbore average, a 584.23 air rifle average and an 1161.58 combined score average.
Additionally, Kyanko was named the team’s scholar-athlete.
The Mountaineers earned 12 total All-GARC honors at tonight’s banquet.
Senior Justin Pentz was the lone WVU shooter on the air rifle, smallbore and combined score second teams. Classmate Michael Kulbacki also picked up an award and was named to the air rifle honorable mention team.
Freshmen Amy Bock and Taylor Ciotola join Kyanko on the smallbore honorable mention team, while classmate Meelis Kiisk was named to the combined score honorable mention squad.
In addition to the individual awards, the Mountaineers earned the GARC Sportsmanship Award, recognizing the conference’s top team inside and outside of the range.
“We had a goal for this year to win that award,” says Hammond. “That honor demonstrates how well we perform and behave as shooters. We made a very big effort to improve that aspect of our team game this season.”
The Mountaineers open the defense of their conference title tomorrow morning. The team takes to the line for the smallbore competition at 8:30 a.m. ET, with the individual smallbore finals set for 6:30 p.m. The team air rifle relay opens at 9 a.m. on Sunday, and the individual finals will follow at 1:30 p.m.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia junior Petra Zublasing and redshirt-freshman Thomas Kyanko were named the Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) Shooter and Rookie of the Year, respectively, this evening, at the GARC Championships Banquet, in Oxford, Miss.
The awards were handed out on the eve of the 2012 GARC Championships, set for Feb. 25-26, at Mississippi’s Patricia C. Lamar National Guard Readiness Center. The No. 2-ranked Mountaineers (12-2, 5-1 GARC) will shoot for their third consecutive conference title.
Zublasing, an Appiano, Italy, native, is the second straight Mountaineer, and the fourth overall, to earn the conference’s top distinction. All-American Nicco Campriani, the 2011 national air rifle champion, earned the award last year.
Kyanko, a native of Wellsburg, W.Va., is the third Mountaineer to score the rookie award; April Shea last won the honor for WVU in 1999.
“This was a good night, especially with such a young team, and it sets us up well for the weekend,” says coach Jon Hammond. “It was nice to see Thomas get honored, and we had a few rookies pick up some All-GARC awards, too. I was happy to see everyone get recognized for their efforts throughout the year – we worked hard and developed a lot.”
Zublasing, a 2011 first team air rifle All-American, finished the season with the conference’s top air rifle (597.75), smallbore (589.0) and combined score (1186.75) season averages. She was named to all three all-conference first teams and was the only Mountaineer to score a first-team honor.
Kyanko also was named to the smallbore and combined score honorable mention All-GARC teams. He finished the regular season with a 577.62 smallbore average, a 584.23 air rifle average and an 1161.58 combined score average.
Additionally, Kyanko was named the team’s scholar-athlete.
The Mountaineers earned 12 total All-GARC honors at tonight’s banquet.
Senior Justin Pentz was the lone WVU shooter on the air rifle, smallbore and combined score second teams. Classmate Michael Kulbacki also picked up an award and was named to the air rifle honorable mention team.
Freshmen Amy Bock and Taylor Ciotola join Kyanko on the smallbore honorable mention team, while classmate Meelis Kiisk was named to the combined score honorable mention squad.
In addition to the individual awards, the Mountaineers earned the GARC Sportsmanship Award, recognizing the conference’s top team inside and outside of the range.
“We had a goal for this year to win that award,” says Hammond. “That honor demonstrates how well we perform and behave as shooters. We made a very big effort to improve that aspect of our team game this season.”
The Mountaineers open the defense of their conference title tomorrow morning. The team takes to the line for the smallbore competition at 8:30 a.m. ET, with the individual smallbore finals set for 6:30 p.m. The team air rifle relay opens at 9 a.m. on Sunday, and the individual finals will follow at 1:30 p.m.
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