Rifle Remains Perfect in Conference Play
January 17, 2015 06:29 PM | General
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| Lucas |
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team defeated Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) foe No. 7 Nebraska, 4704-4680, today, at the WVU Rifle Range.
WVU (9-0, 7-0 GARC) won both disciplines in today’s match, outshooting the Cornhuskers in smallbore, 2334-2328, and air rifle, 2370-2352.
“It was a solid team result overall,” coach Jon Hammond said. “We had a good break. Some people responded better than others, but there was a lot of good stuff today.”
Sophomore Jean-Pierre Lucas placed first in smallbore with 587, a season-high and one short of his career-high.
Nebraska’s Rachel Martin placed second with 585, while junior Michael Bamsey tied for third with two Cornhuskers, shooting 584.
Junior Patrick Sunderman and senior Ziva Dvorsak tied for sixth with 583, a season-high for both. Sunderman shot 200 prone and tied a school record.
Freshman Elizabeth Gratz (582), senior Thomas Kyanko (581), junior Garrett Spurgeon (577), Bamsey and Lucas were the Mountaineer counters.
Dvorsak placed first in air rifle with a 597 (99-99-100-100-99-100) score, just one short of her career-high. Bamsey, Gratz and Sunderman tied for third with 592 scores, while Spurgeon placed sixth with 590.
Nebraska’s Jaycee Carter placed second with a 593 score.
Senior Maren Prediger (588), Dvorsak, Bamsey, Gratz and Lucas (589) made up the air rifle counting squad.
“We have a lot to work on,” Hammond said. “It’s nice to get that first match out of the way. A lot of them haven’t shot for a while. If we keep working hard and keep training, we should be fine for the rest of the season.”
Notably, Sunderman matched his career-high 1175 aggregate score in today’s match.
“Patrick had a great performance today,” Hammond said. “He’s been progressing a lot this season. I know he had a good break, but he didn’t miss a beat and came back today just as strong.”
Today’s win pushed the team’s overall record against the Cornhuskers to 10-3.
The Mountaineers travels to No. 2 Alaska-Fairbanks for two head-to-head matches, Jan. 31 – Feb. 1, at the E.F. Horton Rifle Range, in Fairbanks, Alaska.
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