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No. 2 Mountaineers Travel to GARC Championships
February 23, 2017 03:15 PM | Rifle
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 2-ranked West Virginia University rifle team competes for its eighth straight Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) Championships title Feb. 24-25, at the Louis and Freda Stile Athletic Field House, in Akron, Ohio.
The GARC Championships will begin Friday, Feb. 24, with the smallbore discipline. The day will consist of three relays at 8:15 a.m., 10:45 a.m. and 1:15 p.m.
The air rifle discipline of the GARC Championships will be held on Saturday, Feb. 25. Relay times are 8:15 a.m., 10:15 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
The preparation and sighting period will begin 15 minutes before each relay. Finals will be held at 3:45 p.m. on Friday and at 2:45 p.m. Saturday.
“We’re excited the GARC Championships are being held at Akron,” Mountaineer coach Jon Hammond said. “We’re looking forward to shooting on the same range that was used for the NCAA Championships last year. Not only will it be a slight familiarity for some of the shooters, but also I think we’re going to be shooting in an environment very similar to what it will be like at the NCAA Championships in a few weeks.”
WVU will shoot for the program’s 12th GARC title. The Mountaineers hold the record for the most GARC Championship titles.
The team enters the weekend on the heels of a strong performance in its NCAA Qualifying match, having shot a nation-best 4724 on Feb. 18, at the WVU Rifle Range. The Mountaineers boast a season average of 4716.
The Mountaineers (12-0, 8-0 GARC) won the 2016 GARC Championships with an aggregate score of 4702, scoring 2367 in air rifle and 2335 in smallbore.
Kentucky finished in second place overall last year, while NC State came in third. Army placed fourth, and Mississippi took fifth place.
Nebraska had a sixth-place finish, while Akron came in seventh place. Memphis and Navy finished in ninth and 10th place, respectively.
“I think Kentucky and ourselves have had a good rivalry for a number of years now, and they are typically our biggest challenger within the conference,” Hammond said of the five-time champion Wildcats. “Nebraska is the other team from our conference that qualified for the NCAA Championships, so we will be familiar with them when we reach the NCAA Championships.”
Sophomore Ginny Thrasher earned the smallbore title at the GARC Championships last year with a score of 591 and a final score of 459.5. Thrasher placed second overall in the air rifle discipline with a score of 593 and a final score of 205.7. The 2016 GARC Rookie of the Year also finished as the first place overall individual.
Senior Jean-Pierre Lucas came in fifth place overall in air rifle with a score of 593 and a final score of 104.6. He placed third in the smallbore discipline with a score of 583 and a final score of 446.3. Lucas finished as the fourth place overall individual.
Junior Elizabeth Gratz shot a smallbore score of 578 and an air rifle score of 588 to tie for 10th place with then-senior Patrick Sunderman. Gratz came in 10th place overall.
Sophomore Will Anti placed second in the smallbore discipline with a score of 590 and a final score of 455.5. Anti came in 13th in the air rifle discipline and finished third overall.
“We will certainly use this match as preparation for NCAA Championships,” Hammond added. “The challenge for the athletes is to be so present and focused on what they are doing - nothing else matters.
“If you’re able to block all the other thoughts and distractions out, and be very mindful and present, then it doesn’t matter what competition it is; you’re doing the exact same thing that you would be doing in any competition.”
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