Seven Travel to Air Gun Championships
December 04, 2014 01:48 PM | General
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| Garrett Spurgeon |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Seven members of the No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team will compete at the USA Shooting Winter Air Gun Championships, Dec. 5-7, at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The three-day event serves as a tryout for the US National Team.
“Any match this large is great experience,” said coach Jon Hammond. “It's a different atmosphere than a regular college match with a lot more competitors, so it provides a different challenge for them.”
Junior Garrett Spurgeon returns to the championships for the third year. In last year’s competition, the Canton, Missouri, native placed sixth overall and third in the junior division with a three-day 1852.5 aggregate score. He also placed sixth overall in his 2012 campaign.
Also returning as a two-year veteran, senior Thomas Kyanko will compete after scoring 1734 at the 2013 Championships.
Sophomore Jean-Pierre Lucas, who placed 14th overall with 1837.3 in last year’s competition, returns to compete in his second championships.
Freshman Elizabeth Gratz will compete for the first time as a Mountaineer. She placed second overall in the junior division and fourth in the open with a 1236.4 aggregate score in last year’s competition.
“Most of the team has been to the Olympic Training Center,” Hammond said. “Whether it is the first time or 10th time, you always get a special feeling and inspiration competing at a place like the championships.”
Three Mountaineers travel to the first championships of their career: senior Ziva Dvorsak and juniors Michael Bamsey and Patrick Sunderman.
“I hope to see them be competitive, make some finals and just have a really good experience,” said Hammond. “It will be good preparation for next semester.”
The competitors will shoot air rifle relays each day. There will be a men’s and women’s open as well as junior competitions, consisting of shooters younger than 21 years old. There also will be a final each day.
A full recap of this weekend’s events will be available at WVUSports.com on Sunday.
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