MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A career-best showing from sophomore Morgan Phillips helped push the No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team to a 4711 showing at its NCAA Qualifying match today, at the Bill McKenzie Rifle Range.
 
Today's score will be added to the Mountaineers' (13-0, 9-0) ranking average – based on the team's top three scores shot at three different venues – and will factor into WVU's NCAA Championships qualifying mark.
 
The eight-team field for the 2018 NCAA Championships will be revealed during the NCAA Selection Show on Wednesday, Feb. 21, at 5 p.m., on NCAA.com.
 
WVU finished with marks of 2328 smallbore and 2383 air rifle.
 
"I liked our air rifle today. Everyone struggled a little in smallbore," Mountaineer coach Jon Hammond said. "It would have been easy to get negative or down, but I think they all refocused really well and came out with strong, positive air rifle performances. It was good to see them reset and finish strong."
 
Phillips paced the team in both disciplines, shooting a winning 586 (199 kneeling, 198 prone, 189 standing) smallbore and a career-high matching 597 (99-99-100-100-100-99) air rifle. Phillips previously shot the air rifle mark on Sept. 30, 2017, and March 11, 2017.
 
"Morgan had a great performance. She worked really hard in practice this week, and I think she came out more mentally prepared today," Hammond added. "She had a great smallbore match, barring her first string in standing, and had a great start in kneeling, which she was really happy about. She was then able to reset and come out with a strong air rifle match. Overall, Morgan had a really strong day."
 
Included in the Salisbury, Maryland, native's day was a school-record matching 199 kneeling.
 
"I was happy with how kneeling went," Phillips said. "I've been shooting pretty good kneeling in practice, and I was happy to see it come together in a match."
 
Celebrating her Senior Day, team captain Elizabeth Gratz finished second on the team in air rifle with a 596 mark, two shots short of her season best. Junior Ginny Thrasher and sophomore Milica Babic followed with 595 totals. Junior Will Anti shot 592, while redshirt-freshman David Koenders and freshman Sarah Osborn tallied 589 marks.
 
Redshirt-freshman Noah Barker shot 583, and sophomore Jack Anderson shot 579.
 
Babic finished second on the team in smallbore with a 582 total. Thrasher and Gratz shot matching 580 marks, while Koenders and Osborn added 576 totals. Anti shot 575, and Barker and Anderson followed with scores of 565.
 
"I think we'll keep working on smallbore individually. I think they'll find out what they need to improve on," Hammond noted. "As athletes, you need time to decompress and let the emotional side go away. They'll be able to look at this match more analytically early next week. I don't think there's any one thing – there's just little changes for each individual team member."
 
Five Mountaineers counted toward the team's totals: Babic, Gratz, Koenders, Phillips and Thrasher.
 
Of note, NC State shot alongside the Mountaineers today and finished with a score of 4632.
 
The 2018 Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) regular season champion, WVU plays host to the 2018 GARC Championships on Feb. 24-25, at the Bill McKenzie Rifle Range inside the WVU Shell Building. Saturday's smallbore competition will begin at 7 a.m., and the air rifle competition on Sunday will begin at 8 a.m. Admission is free both days.