No. 1 Rifle Qualifies for NCAA Championships
February 26, 2015 06:10 PM | General
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| Hammond |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team has earned a bid to the 2015 NCAA Championships, as announced this evening by the NCAA Rifle Committee.
Alaska-Fairbanks plays host to the championships March 13-14, at E.F. Horton Rifle Range and Patty Center in Fairbanks, Alaska.
The Mountaineers (11-1, 8-0 GARC), the two-time defending National Champions, qualified for their eighth straight championships. WVU has won three national titles since 2009, and the squad will shoot for its nation-best 17th title.
“It’s great to qualify again for the NCAA Championships – it’s always a goal toward the end of the season,” said Mountaineer coach Jon Hammond. “We’re looking forward to the remaining couple of weeks and the GARC Championships this weekend. It will be great preparation for us for the NCAA Championships.”
Joining the Mountaineers at the championships are: Alaska-Fairbanks, Jacksonville State, Kentucky, Murray State, Nebraska, TCU and U.S. Air Force Academy.
The squads qualified based on the average of their three highest regular-season aggregate scores, with each score recorded at a different range. The average of the three scores was added to the aggregate total from the team’s designated qualifier to determine the final field.
The Mountaineers own the nation’s top four scores shot this season, including a nation-best 4718, shot in a win over Memphis at the WVU Rifle Range on November 8. WVU shot its NCAA qualifying match at the WVU Rifle Range on February 21 and earned a mark of 4712, its fourth-best score of the year.
A total of 48 competitors will compete at the championships, with eight selected as individual qualifiers. An NCAA rule established last season stipulates that a school that qualifies as a team is disqualified from sending individual qualifiers.
The Mountaineers will shoot for their sixth straight Great American Rifle Conference title this weekend, Feb. 27 – March 1, at the conference championships, in Oxford, Mississippi.
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