MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team has earned a bid to the 2016 NCAA National Championships, as announced this evening by the NCAA Rifle Committee.

 

The University of Akron plays host to the championships March 11-12, at the Stile Athletics Field House, in Akron, Ohio.

 

 

Today’s qualification is the ninth straight for the three-time defending National Champion Mountaineers (12-0, 8-0 GARC). WVU has won four titles under 10-year coach Jon Hammond and will shoot for a nation-best 18th title.

 

“It’s always important to make sure you qualify for the NCAA Championships,” Hammond explained. “With the new qualifying formation, there is a lot less pressure around this time of year. I believe entering the postseason as the No. 1-ranked team demonstrates just how consistent this team is, as well as the high standards we all hold for ourselves.”

 

Joining the Mountaineers at the championships are: Alaska-Fairbanks, Kentucky, Murray State, Nebraska, Ohio State, 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.

 

For the second straight year, WVU owns the nation’s top four scores shot this season, including an NCAA-record 4740 achieved in a win against Akron on Jan. 17 at the WVU Rifle Range.

 

A total of 48 competitors will compete at the championships, with eight selected as individual qualifiers. An NCAA rule established two years ago stipulates that a school that qualifies as a team is disqualified from sending individual qualifiers.

 

WVU, the three-time reigning Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) regular-season champions, will shoot for its seventh straight GARC Championship title this weekend, Feb. 28-29, at the conference championships, in Oxford, Mississippi.