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Seven Mountaineers Set for Winter Airgun
December 01, 2016 01:32 PM | Rifle
MORGANTOWN, W.Va.– Seven members of the No. 3- ranked West Virginia University rifle team will compete at the USA Shooting Winter Airgun (WAG) Championships, this weekend, Dec. 2-4, at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The three-day event will serve as a tryout for the U.S. National Team and the U.S. National Junior Team.
“This is the biggest air rifle match in the country, there will be competitors from almost every college rifle program there, and you are exposed to the best shooters in the United States,” WVU coach Jon Hammond said.
Senior Jean-Pierre Lucas returns to the WAG Championships for the fourth consecutive year. In last year’s competition, Lucas placed 13th overall with a three-day aggregate score of 1857.9.
Junior Elizabeth Gratz returns to the WAG Championships after coming in 12th place in last year’s overall competition with a three-day aggregate score of 1240.1. Gratz advanced to the final in her first day of the overall competition and earned three additional points to put her at 12th place overall. In the junior competition, Gratz came in 11th place with a three-day aggregate score of 1237.1.
Sophomore Will Anti, a native of Colorado Springs, returns to the WAG Championships after placing 26th in the overall event last year with a three-day aggregate score of 1844.3. Anti advanced to the final in his final day of the junior competition and earned two additional points to put him at eighth place with a three-day aggregate score of 1846.3.
Freshmen Jack Anderson and Morgan Phillips have competed in the WAG Championships as junior competitors. Anderson shot a three-day aggregate score of 1814.9, while Phillips shot a three-day aggregate score of 1216.1.
Also returning as the graduate assistant coach, Michael Bamsey will compete after shooting a three-day aggregate score of 1841.6 in last year’s WAG Championships.
Two Mountaineers will compete in the WAG Championships for the first time: freshmen Milica Babic and Noah Barker.
Anderson, Anti, Barker and Phillips will compete in the overall competition and the junior competition.
To be eligible to compete in the junior event, participants must be younger than 21 and a citizen of the United States.
“The athletes can gain a lot from this high-level competition - getting more match experience in a challenging environment - and I think it’s always a great experience shooting at the training center,” Hammond said.
The competitors will shoot one relay each day of competition. The top-eight competitors will have the opportunity to advance to a final in the overall and junior competitions over the three days.
A full recap of this weekend’s events will be available at WVUsports.com.
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