CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL


MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 2-ranked West Virginia University rifle team shot 2315 smallbore and sits in second place after day one of the 2012 Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) Championships, held at Mississippi’s Patricia C. Lamar National Guard Readiness Center, in Oxford, Miss.

No. 4 Army is in first place with a score of 2318, while No. 3 Kentucky and Nebraska each shot 2313. With the tiebreaker, UK is in third place with 115 center shots, while NU is in fourth place with 95.

“We had a solid day today,” says coach Jon Hammond. “Some didn’t shoot as well as they wish they would have, but we sit in second place and are in a great position for a strong finish tomorrow.”

Junior Petra Zublasing, the GARC Shooter of the Year, shot a finals-best 102.1 and finished in third place with a 682.1 score. The Appiano, Italy, native entered the finals in seventh place with a relay score of 580.

“Petra shot a fantastic final tonight,” Hammond says. “She was not happy with her relay score, but she put that all behind her in the finals and came out strong.”

Freshman Taylor Ciotola entered the finals in fifth place with a team-best relay score of 583. He shot 92.3 in the finals and finished eighth overall with a 675.3.

Army’s Kelly Buck won the individual smallbore title with a final score of 683.4. She shot 585 in the open relay and 98.4 in the finals.

Senior Justin Pentz just missed qualifying for the finals. The DuBois, Pa., native sat in a four-way tie for eighth place following the relays with a score of 579, but he was outshot in the shootout by Army’s Michael Matthews.

Zublasing, Ciotola, Pentz and freshmen Thomas Kyanko (573) and Meelis Kiisk (572) combined for the Mountaineers’ team total.


Senior Michael Kulbacki paced the team’s non-counting lineup with a 570. Freshman Amy Bock shot 568, while junior Chance Cover shot 561.

Of note, several student-athletes also shot their air rifle relays today. Cover was the lone Mountaineer to shoot and registered a 580, one shot short of his personal-best score.

Competition resumes tomorrow, with the air rifle relays beginning at 9 a.m. ET. The individual finals will follow at 1:30 p.m.