Mountaineers Qualify for NCAA Championships
February 19, 2019 05:15 PM | Rifle
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 4-ranked West Virginia University rifle team will compete for its nation-best 20th NCAA title at the 2019 NCAA National Championships, as announced this evening by the NCAA Rifle Committee.
West Virginia University will play host to the championships March 8-9 at the WVU Coliseum. It is the first-ever national championships final hosted by the University.
Tickets for the 2019 NCAA Rifle Championships are on sale now at NCAA.com/tickets.
The qualification is the 12th straight for the Mountaineers (13-0, 8-0 GARC). WVU owns a nation-best 19 national titles and has won six under 13-year coach Jon Hammond, including five straight from 2013-17.
Three Mountaineers have won five combined NCAA individual titles. Junior Morgan Phillips is the two-time reigning NCAA smallbore champion. Classmate Milica Babic won the 2017 NCAA air rifle title, and senior Ginny Thrasher became the first freshman to sweep the NCAA air rifle and smallbore titles in 2016.
"I think it's always exciting to know you've qualified for the NCAA Championships," Hammond said. "It's the first objective once we get to this point of the year, and we're happy to continue our postseason. It's a tough field. The parity got even tighter this year, and there are a lot of teams shooting well. We know this will be a tough competition.
"We're even more excited to serve as the host for the 2019 NCAA Championships. Now that qualifying is behind us, we need to focus on the next two matches."
The Mountaineers qualified as the field's fourth-ranked team with a 9405.67 qualification mark, based on the team's qualifying average of 4715.67 and its qualifying score of 4690, earned on Feb. 16 at the Bill McKenzie Rifle Range.
Joining the Mountaineers at the championship are No. 1 TCU, No. 2 Kentucky, No. 3 Air Force, No. 5 Murray State, No. 6 Navy, No. 7 Army West Point and No. 8 Alaska-Fairbanks.
The teams earned championship bids based on the average of their three highest regular-season aggregate scores, with each score recorded at a different range. The average of the three scores was then added to the aggregate total from the team's designated qualifier to determine the final field.
Forty-eight competitors will compete at the championships, with eight selected as individual qualifiers. An NCAA rule established five years ago stipulates that a school that qualifies as a team is disqualified from sending individual qualifiers.
The Mountaineers, the 2019 Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) regular-season champions, travel to Akron, Ohio, for the GARC Championships Feb. 22-23, at the University of Akron's Stile Athletics Field House. WVU is the nine-time defending GARC champions.
West Virginia University will play host to the championships March 8-9 at the WVU Coliseum. It is the first-ever national championships final hosted by the University.
Tickets for the 2019 NCAA Rifle Championships are on sale now at NCAA.com/tickets.
The qualification is the 12th straight for the Mountaineers (13-0, 8-0 GARC). WVU owns a nation-best 19 national titles and has won six under 13-year coach Jon Hammond, including five straight from 2013-17.
Three Mountaineers have won five combined NCAA individual titles. Junior Morgan Phillips is the two-time reigning NCAA smallbore champion. Classmate Milica Babic won the 2017 NCAA air rifle title, and senior Ginny Thrasher became the first freshman to sweep the NCAA air rifle and smallbore titles in 2016.
"I think it's always exciting to know you've qualified for the NCAA Championships," Hammond said. "It's the first objective once we get to this point of the year, and we're happy to continue our postseason. It's a tough field. The parity got even tighter this year, and there are a lot of teams shooting well. We know this will be a tough competition.
"We're even more excited to serve as the host for the 2019 NCAA Championships. Now that qualifying is behind us, we need to focus on the next two matches."
The Mountaineers qualified as the field's fourth-ranked team with a 9405.67 qualification mark, based on the team's qualifying average of 4715.67 and its qualifying score of 4690, earned on Feb. 16 at the Bill McKenzie Rifle Range.
Joining the Mountaineers at the championship are No. 1 TCU, No. 2 Kentucky, No. 3 Air Force, No. 5 Murray State, No. 6 Navy, No. 7 Army West Point and No. 8 Alaska-Fairbanks.
The teams earned championship bids based on the average of their three highest regular-season aggregate scores, with each score recorded at a different range. The average of the three scores was then added to the aggregate total from the team's designated qualifier to determine the final field.
Forty-eight competitors will compete at the championships, with eight selected as individual qualifiers. An NCAA rule established five years ago stipulates that a school that qualifies as a team is disqualified from sending individual qualifiers.
The Mountaineers, the 2019 Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) regular-season champions, travel to Akron, Ohio, for the GARC Championships Feb. 22-23, at the University of Akron's Stile Athletics Field House. WVU is the nine-time defending GARC champions.
Players Mentioned
Jon Hammond NCAA Championship | March 18
Wednesday, March 18
A Conversation with Wren Baker
Monday, December 05
Jon Hammond | Thursday
Thursday, September 30
Life as a Mountaineer - Jared Eddy
Wednesday, March 24
