Photo by: Brian Persinger / WVU Photograph
2018-19 Preseason Notebook
September 26, 2018 04:53 PM | Rifle
Morgantown, W.Va. – The No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team opens the 2018-19 season at Akron, home of the 2019 GARC Championships, on Saturday, Sept. 29, at 10 a.m.
A Coliseum Championship
For the first time in program history, the nation-best 19-time NCAA National Champion WVU rifle team will host the NCAA Championships. The two-day competition will take place March 8-9, at the Bill McKenzie Rifle Range inside the WVU Coliseum. The rifle program is the first WVU team to host a national final in school history.
The Mountaineers have won six NCAA titles under 13-year coach Jon Hammond, including five straight from 2013-17. WVU finished second in 2018 with a 4708 total. The Mountaineers claimed their sixth consecutive air rifle National Championship with a winning 2381 total. Additionally, Morgan Phillips won her second individual smallbore title in as many years with a 459.4 showing in the final.
Core Returns
Seven letter winners return for the Mountaineers this season: seniors Will Anti and Ginny Thrasher, juniors Milica Babic and Morgan Phillips and sophomores Noah Barker, David Koenders and Sarah Osborn.
Combined, this group owns two team NCAA National Championships, five individual NCAA titles, three Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) regular-season titles and three GARC Championships titles. Thrasher, Babic, Phillips and Koenders combined for 12 All-America honors last season.
Senior Leadership
A pair of seniors will guide the Mountaineers this season in team captain Will Anti and Ginny Thrasher. Not only solid competitors on the range, the duo also sets the standard academically. Thrasher is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team honoree, while Anti has been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team in each of the last two seasons.
Thrasher, the 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist in women's 10m air rifle, paced the Mountaineers in both disciplines last year with season averages of 586 smallbore and 596.6 air rifle. She also swept the GARC individual titles.
Eddy Joins Mountaineers
Columbus, Georgia, native Jared Eddy, a two-time Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) National Championship participant, joins the Mountaineers for the 2018-19 season.
Eddy most recently finished eighth in the junior men's 50m rifle 3-positions at the 2018 USA Shooting National Championships. He also placed 24th in the overall competition and finished second in the High Collegiate B category with a 2280 mark. In the junior men's air rifle competition, Eddy finished 16th and also placed second in the High Collegiate B category.
A two-time captain of the Columbus High rifle team, Eddy finished second at the 2018 Georgia State Championships.
Lucky No. 13
Coach Jon Hammond returns for his 13th season with the Mountaineers in 2018-19. A former Mountaineer student-athlete and a two-time Olympian, Hammond has returned the WVU rifle program to national glory. Under his guidance, the Mountaineers have won six national championships in 10 seasons, 10 individual NCAA titles and nine consecutive GARC Championships. Additionally, the program has produced five undefeated seasons, 141 All-Americans and 13 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans.
Challenging Path
The Mountaineers' 2018-19 schedule features six of the team's seven opponents from the 2018 NCAA National Championships, including matches at Kentucky, the reigning National Champion, and third-place finisher TCU. The schedule also features eight home matches, including the 2019 NCAA National Championships at the WVU Coliseum. All home matches will be held at the WVU Rifle Range or at the Bill McKenzie Rifle Range inside the WVU Shell Building or the WVU Coliseum.
WVU opens its season and the defense of its five straight GARC titles at Akron on Sept. 29. The Zips will host the GARC Championships on Feb. 23-24.
The Mountaineers' fall schedule is highlighted by two, three-way matches at the WVU Coliseum on Oct. 20-21. WVU will face Ohio State and Murray State on Saturday, Oct. 20, and Nebraska and Air Force on Sunday, Oct. 21.
A Coliseum Championship
For the first time in program history, the nation-best 19-time NCAA National Champion WVU rifle team will host the NCAA Championships. The two-day competition will take place March 8-9, at the Bill McKenzie Rifle Range inside the WVU Coliseum. The rifle program is the first WVU team to host a national final in school history.
The Mountaineers have won six NCAA titles under 13-year coach Jon Hammond, including five straight from 2013-17. WVU finished second in 2018 with a 4708 total. The Mountaineers claimed their sixth consecutive air rifle National Championship with a winning 2381 total. Additionally, Morgan Phillips won her second individual smallbore title in as many years with a 459.4 showing in the final.
Core Returns
Seven letter winners return for the Mountaineers this season: seniors Will Anti and Ginny Thrasher, juniors Milica Babic and Morgan Phillips and sophomores Noah Barker, David Koenders and Sarah Osborn.
Combined, this group owns two team NCAA National Championships, five individual NCAA titles, three Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) regular-season titles and three GARC Championships titles. Thrasher, Babic, Phillips and Koenders combined for 12 All-America honors last season.
Senior Leadership
A pair of seniors will guide the Mountaineers this season in team captain Will Anti and Ginny Thrasher. Not only solid competitors on the range, the duo also sets the standard academically. Thrasher is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team honoree, while Anti has been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team in each of the last two seasons.
Thrasher, the 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist in women's 10m air rifle, paced the Mountaineers in both disciplines last year with season averages of 586 smallbore and 596.6 air rifle. She also swept the GARC individual titles.
Eddy Joins Mountaineers
Columbus, Georgia, native Jared Eddy, a two-time Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) National Championship participant, joins the Mountaineers for the 2018-19 season.
Eddy most recently finished eighth in the junior men's 50m rifle 3-positions at the 2018 USA Shooting National Championships. He also placed 24th in the overall competition and finished second in the High Collegiate B category with a 2280 mark. In the junior men's air rifle competition, Eddy finished 16th and also placed second in the High Collegiate B category.
A two-time captain of the Columbus High rifle team, Eddy finished second at the 2018 Georgia State Championships.
Lucky No. 13
Coach Jon Hammond returns for his 13th season with the Mountaineers in 2018-19. A former Mountaineer student-athlete and a two-time Olympian, Hammond has returned the WVU rifle program to national glory. Under his guidance, the Mountaineers have won six national championships in 10 seasons, 10 individual NCAA titles and nine consecutive GARC Championships. Additionally, the program has produced five undefeated seasons, 141 All-Americans and 13 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans.
Challenging Path
The Mountaineers' 2018-19 schedule features six of the team's seven opponents from the 2018 NCAA National Championships, including matches at Kentucky, the reigning National Champion, and third-place finisher TCU. The schedule also features eight home matches, including the 2019 NCAA National Championships at the WVU Coliseum. All home matches will be held at the WVU Rifle Range or at the Bill McKenzie Rifle Range inside the WVU Shell Building or the WVU Coliseum.
WVU opens its season and the defense of its five straight GARC titles at Akron on Sept. 29. The Zips will host the GARC Championships on Feb. 23-24.
The Mountaineers' fall schedule is highlighted by two, three-way matches at the WVU Coliseum on Oct. 20-21. WVU will face Ohio State and Murray State on Saturday, Oct. 20, and Nebraska and Air Force on Sunday, Oct. 21.
Players Mentioned
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A Conversation with Wren Baker
Monday, December 05
Jon Hammond | Thursday
Thursday, September 30
Life as a Mountaineer - Jared Eddy
Wednesday, March 24
Jon Hammond | Thursday
Thursday, January 14
