MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team shot a season-high smallbore score and earned its second straight win of the weekend, a 4733-4640 victory over Army West Point this afternoon at the WVU Rifle Range.
 
The Mountaineers (6-0, 4-0 GARC) earned their fourth Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) with strong performances, defeating the Black Knights (1-4, 1-3 GARC) 2348-2301 in smallbore and 2385-2339 in air rifle. WVU's smallbore total is one shot better than the team's previous season high of 2347, shot in a win over Ole Miss on Oct. 21.
 
"We had two solid matches this weekend," Mountaineer coach Jon Hammond said. "It's always a challenge to shoot back-to-back. We're getting near the end of the semester, and I'm satisfied with where we are. They've all worked really hard this weekend, and that showed in our overall team performances. We've been going in the right direction this semester, and we'll take this onto the road with us next weekend."
 
For the second time in as many days, junior Ginny Thrasher won the individual air rifle title, this time in record fashion, shooting a perfect 600 (100-100-100-100-100-100) score. The Springfield, Virginia, native previously shot 599 six times, including yesterday, when she finished first against No. 3 TCU.
 
"Air rifle was really strong for the whole team today, but Ginny's 600 was the highlight," Hammond said. "She has had a strong year so far. Ginny has shot so many 599s throughout her college career, and 600 was something she was trying to achieve without focusing too much on it. Today was a great match for her – she showed a lot of mental discipline."
 
Sophomore Morgan Phillips also shot a career high to win smallbore, finishing first with a 590 (198 kneeling, 200 smallbore, 192 smallbore) mark. Included in her performance was a school-record 200 prone mark.
 
Thrasher finished behind Phillips in smallbore with a 589 mark, while freshman Sarah Osborn shot a career-high 588 and placed third.
 
"Smallbore was a strong team effort, and the performances gave us a good boost to start the match," Hammond noted. "It was good to see Morgan break the 590-barrier. That was an individual goal, and she was happy to do that.
 
"Ginny had a strong smallbore as well, and Sarah had a really good match. She's been working very hard, especially on the mental side of her shooting. Sarah kept herself focused and earned a good performance."
 
Sophomore Milica Babic finished fourth in smallbore with a 586 and was followed by redshirt-freshman David Koenders, who shot 583 and placed sixth.
 
Senior Elizabeth Gratz shot 573, while junior Will Anti shot 571. Redshirt-freshman Noah Barker and sophomore Jack Anderson added marks of 558 and 556, respectively.
 
In air rifle, Babic matched her career-high mark of 599 and placed second behind Thrasher. Koenders finished third with a 594 score, and Osborn and Gratz tied for fourth place with matching 592s. Phillips shot 591 and placed sixth, while Anti shot 588 and finished in seventh place.
 
Barker shot a career-best 585, and Anderson finished with a 572 total.
 
Five Mountaineers counted toward the team totals: Babic, Gratz, Koenders, Phillips and Thrasher.
 
WVU closes its fall slate with a pair of road matches next weekend. The Mountaineers shoot at No. 8 Memphis on Saturday, Nov. 11, and at No. 4 Murray State on Sunday, Nov. 12.