No. 1 Rifle Travels to No. 2 Alaska
January 30, 2015 12:57 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. –The No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team travels to No. 2 Alaska-Fairbanks for two head-to-head matches, this weekend, Jan. 31-Feb. 1, at the E. F. Horton Rifle Range in Fairbanks, Alaska.
The team will travel almost four thousand miles and over 14 hours to take on UAF this weekend and will treat the matches as preparation for the 2015 NCAA Championships, which will be held March 13-14 on Alaska-Fairbanks’s campus.
“This is more of a preparation for the upcoming NCAA Championships,” said coach Jon Hammond. “We want to go up, shoot, and come back. You forget how far away Alaska is, and you have to get your body clock adjusted for back-to-back matches. We train most days anyway, so it will be good to get experience at the range we could potentially be at for the championships.”
WVU (9-0, 7-0 GARC) holds a 9-6 all-time record over UAF and most recently defeated the Nanooks (7-1, 2-1 PRC), 4709-4680, on February 6, 2014, at the WVU Rifle Range. The Mountaineers dominated in air rifle, 2380-2348, but fell three short to Alaska-Fairbanks in smallbore, 2332-2329.
“In terms of competing to win or lose, it will be our hardest yet,” said Hammond. “They’ve shot a lot of good scores, especially during the spring semester, so it will be tough. We will focus on ourselves, although we’re at their home and their range.”
The Mountaineers most recently defeated Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) foe No. 6 Nebraska, 4704-4680, January 17, at the WVU Rifle Range.
Senior Thomas Kyanko, juniors Michael Bamsey and Garrett Spurgeon, sophomore Jean-Pierre Lucas and freshman Elizabeth Gratz all lead the team with 582 smallbore averages. Senior Ziva Dvorsak boasts a team-high 596 air rifle average.
“We’re taking all eight of the team members who are available,” Hammond said. “I had planned on not taking so many, but they’re all shooting so well that I couldn’t pick between them. It will be really good experience for all of them to prepare for the championship as much as they can.”
Winning every air rifle and smallbore competition this season, WVU averages 2374 and 2332 in the disciplines, respectively.
The Mountaineers also average a 4706 aggregate score this season, while Alaska-Fairbanks averages 4681.
The Nanooks last defeated No. 14 Akron, 4699-4633, on January 13, at the Robert A. Pinn Shooting Range in Akron, Ohio.
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