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No. 2 Mountaineers End Weekend Victoriously
October 23, 2016 05:26 PM | Rifle
2 West Virginia Mountaineers
4-0, 2-0
4721
Final
4670
7 Ohio State Buckeyes
2-3
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 2-ranked West Virginia University rifle team earned its second win of the weekend and fourth straight victory of the season with a 4721-4670 showing at No. 7 Ohio State, this morning, inside the Lt. Hugh W. Wylie Range in Columbus, Ohio.
The Mountaineers (4-0, 2-0 GARC) tallied a season high in air rifle for the second straight day, shooting 2380. The squad also shot 2341 in smallbore and swept the disciple team wins, as OSU (2-3) shot 2314 smallbore and 2356 air rifle.
“This was another great performance today,” Mountaineer coach Jon Hammond said. “There were a lot of solid individual performances which led to a nice team outcome. We were consistent, which is good for us at this point of the season.
“This entire weekend was a good experience for our young team. We shot at two different ranges and handled a lot of different situations. This was a positive weekend and a great building point for the rest of the semester.”
Sophomore Ginny Thrasher led the way for the second straight day, again shooting a career-high 599 (100-100-100-100-599-100) in air rifle and tallying a 590 (194 kneeling, 200 prone, 196 standing) in smallbore. She also shot a program-record 200 prone for the second time this weekend. The Springfield, Virginia, native finished first overall with a 1189 mark.
Senior Jean-Pierre Lucas and freshman Morgan Phillips tied for second in smallbore with matching 585s. Junior Elizabeth Gratz placed sixth overall with a 581 mark.
Of note, freshman Jack Anderson shot a career-high 569 smallbore today.
In air rifle, freshman Milica Babic matched her career-best score of 596 and finished second behind Thrasher. Gratz shot 595 for third place, while Phillips finished fifth with a career-high 593 and Lucas placed sixth with a 590. This morning marked the second straight day Phillips shot a career high in air rifle; she finished with a 583 mark yesterday.
“Morgan had a really good day,” Hammond added. “She’s been working really hard on air rifle, and this was a positive outcome for her. She was great in both guns today.”
Four Mountaineers shot toward both team discipline scores today: Thrasher, Lucas, Gratz and Babic. Phillips counted toward the team’s smallbore mark, and sophomore Will Anti added a 582 to the team’s air rifle total.
Today’s win over the Buckeyes is the Mountaineers’ second of the year, as they opened the season with a 4714-4674 on Oct. 2, in Morgantown.
WVU does not shoot again until Nov. 5, when the team plays host to Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) opponent Memphis at 8 a.m. at the WVU Rifle Range.
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Jon Hammond | Thursday
Thursday, September 30
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Jon Hammond | Thursday
Thursday, January 14
