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First-Year Confidence
March 09, 2016 06:57 PM | Rifle
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Ginny Thrasher is not your typical freshman….and, she knows it.
The pint-sized rookie with a near-perfect aim, Thrasher has made an immediate impact on the No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team this year, counting toward almost every team score and pacing the squad in air rifle with a 595 season average.
So good is her aim, the Springfield, Virginia, native has shot 599 in air rifle twice this season, one shot short of a perfect 600 mark. Thrasher’s talent, though, is not limited to just air gun, as the Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) Rookie of the Year honoree most recently won the smallbore title at the conference championship on Feb. 27 with a career-best 591 mark in the open relay and a 459.5 total in the final.
No, Ginny Thrasher is not your typical freshman.
“I have heard that a few times, but I have to give complete credit to my team,” she said through laughter. “My teammates have built an atmosphere here that creates excellence. Because of the team and our leadership, the right mentality has been created for this program, and I think I’ve really bought into it. It’s all not only helped my shooting, but it’s also helped me become a good teammate and a hard worker inside the classroom. I’m putting everything together this year because of the great team atmosphere and our great coaching.”
A decorated junior shooter for the Acorns Optimist Rifle Club and at West Springfield High, Thrasher made a name for herself before she stepped foot in Morgantown, winning five medals, including two in the open categories, at the 2015 USA Shooting National Championships for Rifle/Pistol in June. Her outstanding showing secured her U.S. National Team status.
Accustomed to shooting for her own personal success, Thrasher was worried that the pressure of shooting for a team’s glory would get to her during her first season as a Mountaineer. In actuality, she relishes the opportunity to be a member of the 17-time National Champion WVU rifle program.
“You can trust your team, and that takes off a lot of the pressure,” she explained. “It’s a lot more fun and rewarding to go to a match, such as the GARC Championships, and have breakfast with your teammates and shoot alongside your teammates. If you need something in the range, your teammate is there. When you walk off the line, you can wish a teammate ‘good luck,’ and he can say, ‘you did great.’ Being a part of a team makes this sport so much more enjoyable.”
Thrasher will lean on her experienced teammates this weekend, as she will shoot alongside the Mountaineers’ four seniors at the 2016 NCAA Rifle Championships, set for March 11-12, at the University of Akron’s Stile Athletics Field House, in Akron, Ohio. Though she may be the least-experienced Mountaineer shooting for the team’s fourth straight title, 10-year WVU coach Jon Hammond believes Thrasher, an engineering major, has proven all season that she possesses the mental skills needed to handle any pressure or nerves she may encounter.
“I think Ginny has really developed the mental side of her game here at WVU, especially with the help of (performance consultant) Raymond (Prior),” Hammond explained. “She’s a quick learner and she takes everything we preach as a staff in stride. It’s been a huge reason for her fast rate of improvement this year.”
“With our team, there’s a great focus on process instead of outcome,” Thrasher said when explaining her composure under pressure. “Going into these big matches, the focus is on my process, what I’m doing correctly and what I need to improve. I don’t look at the screen and congratulate myself on shooting a 10.0. Instead, I think to myself, ‘OK, your follow through was really good, but let’s adjust your MPA.’ That is how you get the results you want.”
Thrasher understands that she and her teammates cannot control the outcome at the National Championships. Sure, the Mountaineers shot back-to-back NCAA records this season, including an astounding 4740 in a win against Akron on Jan. 17. And yes, the team did capture its sixth straight GARC Championship with a 4702 score on Feb. 28. Ultimately, though, none of the Mountaineers’ previous achievements throughout the year will help them snag the elusive 18th title this weekend.
“One of the things I’ve learned this year is to control my expectations,” Thrasher said. “That was the nice thing about the GARC Championships – it was a match I had never shot before, and therefore I was able to focus completely on my process. I think I’m going to try and maintain that mentality at the NCAA Championships. I need to focus on myself and my process without any score or outcome expectations, team or individual. I think that will help lead to the outcome the team desires.”
While the Mountaineers’ season will end this weekend, Thrasher is just warming up, as she will again hit the national and international competition circuit in just a few weeks. In fact, Thrasher will shoot with the hope of earning a ticket to Brazil, as she is set to compete at the United States’ Olympic Qualifying matches this Spring.
Before she takes aim at Rio, Thrasher has plans to step away from the line and will travel to Costa Rica with her family during WVU’s Spring Break.
“That’s a really well-deserved break for Ginny,” Hammond noted. “Ginny was apprehensive to take time off in December for the holidays. She thought she may not be ready for the team’s first match in January. I explained to her then that the goal wasn’t for her to be ready for that match, but to feel ready in February and March. Ultimately, she shot great, and while she may not have felt ready, the mental break really gave her the rest and time off that she needed. I think that break really showed her how valuable time away from the sport is to a shooter.”
Though she may be listed as a freshman on the Mountaineers’ roster for a few more weeks, Ginny Thrasher is by no means a typical first-year student-athlete. She has excelled when others may have faltered, and she has embraced pressure instead of running away.
“I’m happy, but I’m not satisfied,” Thrasher said upon reflection of her rookie campaign. “The next step for me will be to keep doing what I’m doing so I can get the same positive outcomes. The danger with having a really good freshman season is having expectations going into the next year and turning the focus onto outcomes and away from the process. I’m aware of those dangers, and I’m going to try my best to avoid them.”
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
