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No. 1 WVU Captures its Seventh Straight GARC Title
February 28, 2016 07:15 PM | Rifle
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team shot a two-day total of 4702 to capture its seventh straight Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) Championship, today, at the Patricia C. Lamar National Guard Readiness Center, in Oxford, Mississippi.
The Mountaineers (12-0, 8-0 GARC) used a first place, 2367 showing in air rifle to solidify their victory. WVU shot a winning 2335 smallbore yesterday.
West Virginia now owns a conference-best 11 GARC championships and is the first team to ever win seven straight GARC titles.
“It is a great honor, and I think it is a wonderful achievement to have that much success over a long period of time,” coach Jon Hammond said. “Today wasn’t our best performance, but it was a great team effort over the course of two days. Winning the GARC title seven years in a row is a great accomplishment.”
No. 2-ranked Kentucky finished second overall with a 4677 aggregate score, followed by N.C. State in third with a two-day total of 4651.
Kentucky finished second with a 2362 air rifle score, while N.C. State placed third with an air rifle total of 2360. Host Mississippi placed fourth (2342), and Nebraska finished in fifth (2338).
Freshman Ginny Thrasher and junior Jean-Pierre Lucas represented the Mountaineers in the individual air rifle final. The 2016 GARC Rookie of the Year, as well as the conference’s smallbore champion, Thrasher scored 596 in the open air rifle relay and 205.9 in the final for second place overall. A native of Speers, Pennsylvania, Lucas shot 593 for sixth place and 104.6 in the air rifle final for fifth place overall.
“Ginny had a fantastic weekend,” Hammond noted. “She led the way in smallbore and air rifle, and she performed great in both finals. Jean-Pierre also had a really solid performance in order to help the team today. We needed his performance. Today wasn’t our strongest performance overall, but Ginny and JP came through with solid efforts.”
Additionally, senior Patrick Sunderman and sophomore Elizabeth Gratz scored 589s in the air rifle open relay to tie for 10th, while freshman Will Anti finished in 13th (588) and senior Garrett Spurgeon placed 32nd (583).
The WVU counting squad consisted of Spurgeon, Sunderman, Lucas, Gratz and Thrasher.
Of note, Thrasher finished first overall with a two-day total of 1187. Kentucky’s Sonya May placed second (1182), and WVU’s Anti finished third (1178).
Of note, Gratz also was named WVU’s GARC Scholar Athlete of the Year.
“We have to work on a few things going into the NCAA Championships, but in terms of the format, this weekend was really good preparation,” Hammond explained. “We have to stay focused, and we have to keep doing the same things that we have been doing. We have to work on a few small details, and we have to keep pushing each other. In these next two weeks, we have to get as much physical and mental rest as possible in order to be ready for the NCAA Championships.”
The Mountaineers will have two weeks of preparation before the team defends its three consecutive and nation-best 17 national titles at the 2016 NCAA Championships, hosted by Akron on March 11-12, at the Stile Athletics Field House, in Akron, Ohio.
Jon Hammond NCAA Championship | March 18
Wednesday, March 18
A Conversation with Wren Baker
Monday, December 05
Jon Hammond | Thursday
Thursday, September 30
Life as a Mountaineer - Jared Eddy
Wednesday, March 24
