Saturday, February 22
Morgantown, W.Va.
8:00 a.m.
West Virginia University
vs
NCAA Qualifying Match
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
No. 3 Mountaineers Shoot Qualifier
February 22, 2020 10:02 PM | Rifle
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 3-ranked West Virginia University rifle team shot 4706 in an NCAA Qualifying Match on Saturday, at the Bill McKenzie Rifle Range inside the WVU Shell Building, in Morgantown.
Saturday's scores will be added to the Mountaineers (9-1, 7-1 GARC) 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.
This year's NCAA Championships will be held March 13-14 at the University of Kentucky, in Lexington. The Mountaineers look to reclaim the NCAA Championship and earn their sixth title in eight seasons.
West Virginia finished with marks of 2331 smallbore and 2375 air rifle.
"I think we can pull away a lot of positives from today," Mountaineer coach Jon Hammond said. "We have been very consistent lately, and a lot of the team members have been performing very well. Now, it's just a case of how we can raise our performances from the last few matches."
Freshman Calista Smoyer (99-99-98-100-99-100) won the air rifle title outright with a personal-best mark of 597, while senior Morgan Phillips (197 kneeling, 197 prone, 191 standing) and freshman Akihito Shimizu (196 kneeling, 198 prone, 191 standing) shot 585s and shared the smallbore victory.
Sophomore Verena Zaisberger tallied 595 air rifle and placed second. Juniors Sarah Osborn and David Koenders tied for third place with matching 594 scores, while freshman Malori Brown rounded out the top five with a 593.
Senior Milica Babic and Phillips added matching 592s and tied for sixth. Of note, Phillips' mark matched her season high.
Shimizu shot 590 and placed eighth, followed by sophomore Jared Eddy in ninth with a 586. Junior Noah Barker added a 573 mark.
In smallbore, Babic shot 584, including a program-record 200 prone, and placed third.
Koenders placed fourth with a 582, and Brown followed in fifth place with a 581. Zaisberger shot 580 and finished sixth, and Eddy tallied 578 for seventh place.
Smoyer placed ninth with a 573, while Barker and Osborn added marks of 571 and 567, respectively.
Five Mountaineers counted toward the team's scores: Babic, Koenders, Osborn, Shimizu and Zaisberger.
Of note, North Georgia and VMI shot alongside the Mountaineers on Saturday. North Georgia finished with a score of 4578, while VMI shot a team total of 4505.
"We talked a little bit today about intensity," Hammond said. "We have to take advantage of every training opportunity we have left. We have to be excited to and bring our best effort when we step inside the range."
Up next, WVU shoots for its 11th consecutive Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) Championship title on Feb. 28-29, at the University of Memphis' R.F. Fogelman Rifle Range, in Memphis, Tennessee.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVURifle on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Saturday's scores will be added to the Mountaineers (9-1, 7-1 GARC) 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.
This year's NCAA Championships will be held March 13-14 at the University of Kentucky, in Lexington. The Mountaineers look to reclaim the NCAA Championship and earn their sixth title in eight seasons.
West Virginia finished with marks of 2331 smallbore and 2375 air rifle.
"I think we can pull away a lot of positives from today," Mountaineer coach Jon Hammond said. "We have been very consistent lately, and a lot of the team members have been performing very well. Now, it's just a case of how we can raise our performances from the last few matches."
Freshman Calista Smoyer (99-99-98-100-99-100) won the air rifle title outright with a personal-best mark of 597, while senior Morgan Phillips (197 kneeling, 197 prone, 191 standing) and freshman Akihito Shimizu (196 kneeling, 198 prone, 191 standing) shot 585s and shared the smallbore victory.
Sophomore Verena Zaisberger tallied 595 air rifle and placed second. Juniors Sarah Osborn and David Koenders tied for third place with matching 594 scores, while freshman Malori Brown rounded out the top five with a 593.
Senior Milica Babic and Phillips added matching 592s and tied for sixth. Of note, Phillips' mark matched her season high.
Shimizu shot 590 and placed eighth, followed by sophomore Jared Eddy in ninth with a 586. Junior Noah Barker added a 573 mark.
In smallbore, Babic shot 584, including a program-record 200 prone, and placed third.
Koenders placed fourth with a 582, and Brown followed in fifth place with a 581. Zaisberger shot 580 and finished sixth, and Eddy tallied 578 for seventh place.
Smoyer placed ninth with a 573, while Barker and Osborn added marks of 571 and 567, respectively.
Five Mountaineers counted toward the team's scores: Babic, Koenders, Osborn, Shimizu and Zaisberger.
Of note, North Georgia and VMI shot alongside the Mountaineers on Saturday. North Georgia finished with a score of 4578, while VMI shot a team total of 4505.
"We talked a little bit today about intensity," Hammond said. "We have to take advantage of every training opportunity we have left. We have to be excited to and bring our best effort when we step inside the range."
Up next, WVU shoots for its 11th consecutive Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) Championship title on Feb. 28-29, at the University of Memphis' R.F. Fogelman Rifle Range, in Memphis, Tennessee.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVURifle on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
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