Morgantown, W.Va. – The West Virginia University rifle team ended its 2018-19 season with many accomplishments. For the first time ever, the Mountaineers hosted the NCAA Rifle Championships at the WVU Coliseum and finished second overall.
 
Holding an undefeated regular-season record (13-0, 8-0 GARC), WVU captured its 10th straight Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) title.
 
The success of the 2018-19 season was a combination of positive leadership, goals set by the team and an unmatched work ethic.
 
"I'm really proud of the team this year and all the work they did throughout the season," Mountaineer coach Jon Hammond said. "They worked really hard as a unit, and it's always nice to earn individual accolades, too. Five All-Americans from one team really shows how strong this group was." 
 
NCAA Championship Comes to Morgantown
The West Virginia University rifle team finished its 2018-19 season placing second at the 2019 NCAA Rifle Championships, held for the first time at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia, on March 8-9.
 
An attendance record of 2,215 fans visited the coliseum for the NCAA Championships. The previous record of 919 was set in 2007 at Alaska-Fairbanks.
 
WVU finished second with an aggregate score of 4692 with senior Ginny Thrasher, juniors Milica Babic and Morgan Phillips and sophomores David Koenders and Sarah Osborn counting toward the team's score.
 
On the first day of competition, the Mountaineers tied TCU for first overall in smallbore with a score of 2331. Though top-ranked TCU also shot 2331, the Horned Frogs broke the tie with a 127-112 center-shot advantage and therefore were the 2019 NCAA Smallbore Champion. On day two, the Mountaineers shot 2361 in air rifle, ultimately placing second overall. The top-ranked Horned Frogs won the National Championship with a two-day score of 4699, and No. 3 Air Force finished third with a 4687 total.
 
Three Mountaineers qualified for the eight-person smallbore final. Koenders finished third with a 444.8 showing. Thrasher shot 423.1 and finished fifth, while Phillips shot a 402.3 and placed seventh.
 
Koenders and Thrasher entered the final tied for third place, as both shot 586 in the open relay. Phillips placed seventh with a 585 total. Babic was the fourth Mountaineer to count toward the team's total and finished 30th with a 574, and Osborn placed 35th with a 571 mark.
 
Babic represented WVU in the eight-person air rifle final and finished fifth overall with a score of 183.5. She has qualified for the air rifle final each season since winning the NCAA title as a freshman in 2017. Babic qualified for the final in third place, shooting a team-best 596 in the day's second relay, one-shot short of her season high.
 
Thrasher, who also shot in the second relay, finished 11th with a 591 total. Koenders and Osborn each shot 587 in the day's first relay and finished 25th and 26th, respectively. Phillips also shot in the first relay and finished 35th with a 584 mark.
 
All-America Honors
Five Mountaineers earned a combined 11 All-America honors after competing at the 2019 NCAA National Championships.
 
Thrasher collected three first-team accolades as she was named to the NRA All-America Air Rifle and Smallbore First Teams, as well as the CRCA First Team.
 
Koenders was named to the NRA All-America Air Rifle and Smallbore Second Teams, as well as the CRCA Third Team.
 
Babic and Phillips were named to the NRA All-America Air Rifle and Smallbore First Teams, respectively. Babic also took home CRCA All-America Honorable Mention honors.
 
Osborn earned her first career accolades and was named to the NRA All-America Second Team Smallbore and the CRCA All-America Honorable Mention.
 
Coach Jon Hammond was named the CRCA co-Coach of the Year.
 
WVU Claims GARC Championship
The Mountaineers defended their conference title at the 2019 Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) Championships, held Feb. 22-23, at the University of Akron Stile Field House in Akron, Ohio.
 
The Mountaineers earned their 10th straight title with an aggregate score of 4715.
 
On the first day of the championships, Phillips won the individual smallbore title with a 461 mark. She was the fourth different Mountaineer to win the GARC smallbore title since 2010.
 
Thrasher finished second in the final with a 460.3, and Koenders shot 419.8 to place fifth.
 
Thrasher entered the final in first (591), Babic in second (588) and Koenders in sixth (584).
 
Joining the trio on WVU's counting squad were Osborn and Babic who finished in 13th and 43rd place, respectively, with scores of 579 and 570 in the open relay.
 
Freshman Jared Eddy shot 576 and placed 24th, while sophomore Noah Barker finished in 36th with a 572 total. Senior Will Anti and freshman Verena Zaisberger finished 48th and 49th, respectively, with scores of 569 and 567.
 
On the second day of competition, Thrasher walked away with her third consecutive air rifle title with a 249.4 score. Joining Thrasher in the day's final were Babic, Zaisberger and Phillips who finished second (248.3), third (225.9) and fourth (205.3), respectively.
 
Zaisberger entered the final in first place after shooting a career-best 598 in the open competition. Thrasher qualified in second place with a 596 total, while Babic qualified in fifth place with a 594 mark. Phillips placed sixth with a season-high of 593.
 
Anti just missed qualifying for the air rifle final, finishing ninth with a season-high matching 591. Koenders placed 16th with a 590 total, and Osborn finished in 24th place with a 588 mark. Eddy shot 586 and finished in 32nd place.
 
GARC Honors
The Mountaineers earned many GARC awards prior to the championships.
 
Thrasher was named the GARC Outstanding Senior, an award that celebrates one senior in the conference who has excelled throughout his or her undergraduate experience. In addition to the Outstanding Senior honor, she also was named the GARC Shooter of the Year for the second time and first since 2017. She was named to the All-GARC First Team Air Rifle, Smallbore and Combined Score.
 
Koenders and Babic were named All-GARC First Team Air Rifle and Combined Score and Second Team Smallbore. Osborn was named to the All-GARC First Team Smallbore and All-GARC Second Team Air Rifle and Combined Score.
 
Eddy was named to the All-GARC Honorable Mention Air Rifle, Smallbore and Combined Score Teams.
 
Koenders was named the Mountaineers' GARC Scholar-Athlete. The honor was the first career award for the psychology major.
 
Everything Else
Seven Mountaineers were named to the CRCA All-Academic Team. Anti and Thrasher received their fourth consecutive honors. Babic and Phillips were recognized for the third time. Koenders and Osborn collected their second career awards. Barker was honored for the first time.
 
Additionally, Anti and Thrasher were named recipients of the ninth annual Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award, the Big 12 Conference's highest academic honor.
 
The Senior Class
Two seniors leave WVU with many memories after working hard the last four years.
 
Anti, a double major in finance and accounting, helped lead the Mountaineers as team captain during his final year in the program. He has been named to the President's and Dean's Lists, as well as the CoSIDA Academic All-District At-Large Men's Team in 2017 and 2018.
 
Thrasher, a biomedical engineer, will graduate from WVU with 12 All-America awards; all but one were first-team accolades. She won the 2016 NCAA smallbore and air rifle titles. Later that year, Thrasher won the women's 10m air rifle at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics and became the Games' first Gold Medalist.
 
Both seniors have helped the Mountaineers win two NCAA National Championships and four GARC Championships.
 
Coach Hammond talked highly of his graduating seniors.
 
"Our two seniors have been fantastic and have had four amazing years," Hammond added. "Will has been a great captain for us this year and has really been our leader. He's pushed everyone, motivated them and held everyone together. Ginny – we've said it many times before – you don't have that caliber of a person come through a program too often. She's accomplished an amazing amount in her four years. They've both had a huge impact on our program, and we'll miss them."
 
Training in South Africa
The WVU rifle team visited Eagle Eye Shooting Center in Magaliesburg, South Africa, over winter break. The 12-day trip from Dec. 28 - Jan. 8 was a wonderful practice experience for the team.
 
The Mountaineers got a chance to practice at an outdoor smallbore 50m training facility. Along with the training opportunity, the team got to experience a different culture and environment.
 
The student-athletes visited a South African Game Drive, as well as activities like zip lining and touring an elephant sanctuary.
 
"I think it's important to take this team on a foreign trip, as it helps us continue the elevation of this program," Hammond said. "The trip provided the student-athletes with an excellent experience. It's been a goal of mine for a number of years, and it's exciting to make it happen."