MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Following an exciting summer which saw sophomore Ginny Thrasher solidify the West Virginia University rifle program’s position on the global stage, the Mountaineers are prepped and ready to open their 2016-17 season.

 

The four-time reigning NCAA Champion, No. 1 WVU returns to action this Sunday, Oct. 2, against No. 5 Ohio State. The squads will shoot a smallbore competition at 8 a.m. at the WVU Rifle Range before moving to the Indoor Track inside the WVU Rifle Range for air rifle, with competition set to begin at 1 p.m.

 

Fans are invited to the track to cheer on the Mountaineers, with admission and parking free. A Mountaineer Fan Fest will follow an exhibition final, and all eight Mountaineers, along with coach Jon Hammond, will be available to meet with fans and sign autographs. Additionally, youths under the age of 13 will be invited to shoot on the range.

 

When the Mountaineers compete this season, they will be working toward a feat only achieved twice in NCAA rifle history – a fifth straight NCAA Championships.

 

WVU has claimed the last four National Championships and will shoot for its fifth at the 2016 NCAA Championships, set for March 10-11, at Ohio State University.

 

Twice before has a program won at least five straight titles, as WVU (1988-93) and Alaska-Fairbanks (1999-2004) each put together title runs of six straight years.

 

The Mountaineers claimed their fourth straight NCAA title with a 4703 score at the 2016 NCAA Championships. The only team in WVU history to win an NCAA title, WVU has won five championships under coach Jon Hammond. The Mountaineers have won a nation-best 18 NCAA titles since 1983. Alaska-Fairbanks ranks second with 10 national championships.

 

The Mountaineers have absolutely dominated the Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) since 2010, winning seven straight GARC Championship titles and four regular-season crowns, including the last three.

 

WVU earned the 2016 GARC title with a 4702 showing at the championships. Sophomore Ginny Thrasher won the individual smallbore title and finished second in air rifle. The squad also claimed its third consecutive regular-season title with a perfect 8-0 showing against conference opponents.

 

Fresh off the program’s fourth straight NCAA Title, 11-year coach Jon Hammond returns to lead his Alma Mater.

 

A member of the 2002-03 squad, Hammond returned to Morgantown and was named the program’s 18th head coach in 2006. Since then, he has led WVU to five NCAA Championships, the first in 2009, and 11 total GARC titles. His career coaching record stands at 103-14. He ranks second all-time behind his predecessor Marsha Beasley (153) in career victories.

 

Named the GARC Coach of the Year in 2016 for the third time in his career, Hammond has guided Mountaineer shooters to 112 All-America honors and 11 CoSIDA Academic All-America recognitions. Additionally, he has overseen the careers of multiple Olympians, including 2016 Gold Medalists Ginny Thrasher and Nicco Campriani.

 

Sophomore Ginny Thrasher returns for her second collegiate season fresh off an Olympic victory, as the Springfield, Virginia, native won the Gold medal in the women’s 10m air rifle competition at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games.

 

Thrasher’s win was the first Gold medal awarded at the Rio Games. She was the third-youngest USA women’s shooting medalist and the third USA shooter to win the women’s 10m air rifle. Additionally, she was the fifth shooter and first female with ties to the WVU rifle program to medal at the Olympic Games.

 

Along with WVU women’s soccer seniors Kadeisha Buchanan and Ashley Lawrence, Thrasher is the first Mountaineer student-athlete to earn an Olympic medal while still enrolled at WVU since James Jett (men’s track 4x100 relay) did so at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

 

Thrasher’s Olympic success followed her unprecedented rookie season, as she swept the individual titles at the 2016 NCAA Championships, becoming the first freshman in NCAA history to win the air rifle and smallbore championships in one year. The 2016 GARC Rookie of the Year, she earned three All-America honors and was named the NCAA Championships Top Performer Honoree.

 

Four return from the 2016 National Championship squad, including senior Jean-Pierre Lucas, who again will serve as the team captain for the second straight season. A native of Speers, Pennsylvania, Lucas is a six-time All-American. He finished third in smallbore and fifth in air rifle at the 2016 GARC Championships.

 

Junior Elizabeth Gratz returns to the range after a highly successful summer. The Sigel, Illinois, native, also a six-time All-American, finished third at the United States Olympic Team Trials for Airgun. She also earned two medals at the 2016 National Junior Olympic Shooting Championships, finishing second in the women’s 10m air rifle and third in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions.

 

Alongside 2016 Olympic Champion Ginny Thrasher, sophomore Will Anti also returns for his second season at WVU. A native of Fort Benning, Georgia, Anti finished second in smallbore at the 2016 GARC Championships.

 

Four freshmen join the Mountaineers this season: Jack Anderson, Milica Babic, Noah Barker and Morgan Phillips.

 

Anderson, a native of Franklin, Pennsylvania, is a five-time USA Shooting Junior Olympics qualifier and owns the US Shooting men’s junior 2 air rifle national record of 617.8.

 

A native of Belgrade, Serbia, Babic is a member of the Serbian Youth National Team. Most recently, she won the junior women’s 50m rifle 3 positions and placed second in the junior women’s 10m air rifle at the 26th Meeting of the Shooting Hopes in May 2016.  

 

Barker, a native of Winfield, West Virginia, competed for the Putnam County Gun Club Smallbore Team and was a 2015 Junior Olympics smallbore qualifier.

 

A member of the US National Junior Team, Phillips, a native of Salisbury, Maryland, competed at the 2016 USA Shooting National Championships and finished first in the women’s and junior prone competitions.

 

Coach Jon Hammond again put together a difficult slate for the Mountaineers, as the 2016-17 schedule features five 2016 NCAA Championships qualifiers: third-place finisher Murray State, Kentucky, Alaska-Fairbanks, Ohio State and Nebraska.

 

Five shoulder-to-shoulder matches will be held at the WVU Rifle Range, where the Mountaineers own a 25-match win streak.

 

Following Sunday’s season opener, the Mountaineers will travel to NC State on Oct. 15 for their GARC season opener, with a trip to Akron and Ohio State following Oct. 22-23.

 

WVU returns to Morgantown for a match against Memphis on Nov. 5 before closing its fall season with two matches at Army West Point on Nov. 12-13, shooting against Mississippi on Nov. 12 and the host Black Knights on Nov. 13.

 

The Mountaineers open their spring season against Alaska-Fairbanks on Jan. 10 at the WVU Rifle Range. Navy and Nebraska also will travel to Morgantown for matches on Jan. 20 and Jan. 22, respectively. WVU will then travel to Lexington, Kentucky, for a match against Kentucky on Feb. 11 and a meeting with Murray State on Feb. 12.

 

Following an NCAA Qualifying match at the WVU Rifle Range on Feb. 18, the Mountaineers will shoot for their eighth straight GARC title on Feb. 25-26, in Akron, Ohio.

 

Ohio State University will serve as host of the NCAA Championships on March 10-11. OSU last served as host of the championships in 2013. WVU’s win that year sparked its current streak of four straight titles.