MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A season-best showing in smallbore helped push the No. 3-ranked West Virginia University rifle team to a winning, season-high 4712 showing today at the Bill McKenzie Rifle Range inside the WVU Coliseum.
No. 2 Air Force finished second with a 4686 score, while No. 9 Nebraska shot 4660 and placed third.
The Mountaineers (6-0, 3-0 GARC) swept the disciplines today, shooting a season-high 2345 smallbore and 2367 air rifle.
"Everyone shot well at the same time today, and it was nice to see a strong smallbore performance from this team," Mountaineer coach
Jon Hammond said. "It was good for us to see our full capabilities. I was really happy to see us come back today and improve in specific areas.
"It was a great weekend for so many reasons. Shooting in the WVU Coliseum was a wonderful experience, and the range setup looked fantastic. We can't wait to show the nation at the NCAA Championships. It was very important for this team to get the experience on the range and receive feedback from the other teams. Hopefully, we will learn from this weekend and use it to our advantage as we get ready for a short week of practice before two matches on the road."
A pair of Mountaineers again swept the individual competitions. After winning air rifle yesterday, junior
Milica Babic shot a season-best 589 (195 kneeling, 197 prone, 197 standing) smallbore today for her second discipline win of the season.
"Milica had a much better match today, and she saw what she can do, which is great for her," Hammond said.
Senior
Ginny Thrasher tied Air Force's Casper Schadler for first in air rifle with a 595 (98-99-99-100-100-99) total.
Junior
Morgan Phillips shot 586 and finished second in smallbore. Thrasher and sophomore
Sarah Osborn followed in third place with 585 marks. Freshman
Jared Eddy again shot a career best in smallbore, today a 583 mark, and finished in seventh place.
Senior
Will Anti shot 579 and placed 10th, and sophomore
David Koenders followed in 11th place with a 578. Sophomore
Noah Barker also chipped in a season-high matching 565.
In air rifle, Babic finished in third place with a 593 score. Eddy shot a career-best 592 and finished in fifth place, while Anti shot a season-best 590 and finished in seventh place.
Koenders finished in ninth place with a 589, and Osborn followed in 12th place with a 588. Barker shot 583.
Four Mountaineers counted toward both team totals: Babic, Koenders, Osborn and Thrasher. Anti counted toward the team's air rifle total, and Phillips shot toward the smallbore score.
With the wins, WVU improves to 19-0 all-time against Air Force and 14-3 against Nebraska.
The Mountaineers return to the road next weekend for a pair of matches in West Point, New York. WVU shoots against host Army West Point on Saturday, Oct. 27, at 8 a.m., and Coast Guard on Sunday, Oct. 28, at 8 a.m.
