Rifle Ends Fall Semester Undefeated
November 23, 2014 06:51 PM | General
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| Jean-Pierre Lucas and Maren Prediger during the air rifle relay. |
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. - The No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team defeated Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) foe No. 13 NC State, 4714-4586, today, at the WVU Rifle Range.
The Mountaineers (8-0, 6-0 GARC) retain their perfect record in conference play as they head into a break in their season.
“The team has really put a lot of hard work in all semester,” said coach Jon Hammond. “This past week we prepared well, but it was definitely a balance of getting some rest and also preparing for the match that helped.”
WVU won both disciplines in today’s match, outshooting the Wolfpack in smallbore, 2340-2263, and air rifle, 2374-2323.
The team’s smallbore score matched a season high last shot against TCU in the first match of the season.
Junior Garrett Spurgeon placed first in smallbore with 587, while classmate Michael Bamsey followed in second with 586, one short of his career high. Freshman Elizabeth Gratz placed third with a career-high 585 score, and junior Patrick Sunderman placed fourth with 583.
Spurgeon, Bamsey, Gratz, senior Thomas Kyanko (582) and classmate Ziva Dvorsak (575) completed the Mountaineer counting squad.
Placing first in air rifle, senior Maren Prediger shot 597. Spurgeon matched his career-high 596 (99-100-99-100-99-99) score for the second match in a row and placed second. Dvorsak placed third with 595, while Bamsey and Sunderman tied for fourth with 592. Gratz finished sixth with 591.
Spurgeon, Dvorsak, Bamsey, Gratz and Kyanko (586) contributed to the air rifle victory.
Of note, Spurgeon’s 1183 aggregate score bettered his career high by one point, and Sunderman matched his career-high 1175 aggregate score.
“The progress is a product of continuing to work hard throughout despite have hurdles along the way,” explained Hammond. “They have all had patches where they’ve struggled, but they never gave up and kept working hard. That is a credit to the perseverance and determination that this team has.”
Today’s win pushes the team’s undefeated record against the Wolfpack to 16-0.
“We can take a lot of positives from this semester,” Hammond said. “The team has put in some really good performances, which has resulted in some great team scores. They all have room to improve and want to get better. There is a lot of healthy competition between them, and that will continue into next semester.”
The Mountaineers will begin spring semester competition with a match against GARC foe Nebraska, Saturday, Jan. 17, at the WVU Rifle Range.
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