Saturday, February 29
Memphis, Tenn.
9:00 a.m
West Virginia University
vs
GARC Championships
Photo by: Matthew A. Smith
WVU Finishes Second at GARC Championships
February 29, 2020 08:09 PM | Rifle
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 3-ranked West Virginia University rifle team finished second overall at the 2020 Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) Championships with a two-day total of 4693 on Saturday, shot at the University of Memphis' Larry O. Finch Center, in Memphis, Tennessee.
After a 2323 showing in smallbore on Friday, WVU shot 2370 in air rifle on Saturday. Kentucky had the top air rifle mark of 2385.
The Wildcats, the only squad to defeat the Mountaineers in the regular season, finished first with a score of 4711. Akron finished third (4683), while Nebraska and Navy tied for fourth (4678).
Junior Sarah Osborn finished the weekend with the championships second-best combined score, earning 583 smallbore and 597 air rifle for an aggregate score of 1180. Osborn's air rifle total was a personal best.
Four Mountaineers represented WVU in the eight-person air rifle final. Sophomore Jared Eddy finished fourth overall with a score of 204.9. Senior Milica Babic placed fifth (184.3), followed by junior David Koenders in sixth (163.3). Osborn finished seventh overall with a 142.4.
"Obviously, we want to compete and win conference championships, but we were beaten by a better team today," Mountaineer coach Jon Hammond said. "Kentucky shot great, but we had four individuals in the final. That was a positive for us, especially with Sarah and Jared's performances. I'm really pleased for them. As a team, we know we can shoot better air rifle, so we just have to keep working as hard as we can to make improvements."
Kentucky's Will Shaner won the air rifle title with a 247.8 score.
Osborn qualified for the final in third place, shooting a team-best 597 (100-98-100-100-100-99) in the day's first relay.
Eddy, who also shot in the first relay, entered the final in a tie for fourth with a career-high matching 596 (99-99-99-100-99-100) total.
Prior to the final, Babic and Koenders shot 595 and 593, respectively, toward the team scores.
Joining the duo on WVU's counting squad were senior Morgan Phillips, sophomore Verena Zaisberger and freshman Akihito Shimizu. Phillips and Zaisberger shot matching 591s, while Shimizu tallied a 590.
Junior Noah Barker (579) and freshmen Calista Smoyer (588) and Malori Brown (586) also shot in Saturday's competition.
"This weekend was great preparation for NCAAs, especially with the team members being in that tournament environment," Hammond said. "It's great experience. It's very competitive, and they were a lot of great shooters there. Often the scores are lower in a tournament-style setting, and you can see that across the board, so that's a big challenge. We'll just keep working on the little things the next few weeks, and we'll go into NCAAs with a positive outlook and enjoy the championship as much as we can."
Looking ahead, the Mountaineers will embark on a week of preparation before competing in the 2020 NCAA Rifle Championships, March 13-14, at the University of Kentucky, in Lexington.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVURifle on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
After a 2323 showing in smallbore on Friday, WVU shot 2370 in air rifle on Saturday. Kentucky had the top air rifle mark of 2385.
The Wildcats, the only squad to defeat the Mountaineers in the regular season, finished first with a score of 4711. Akron finished third (4683), while Nebraska and Navy tied for fourth (4678).
Junior Sarah Osborn finished the weekend with the championships second-best combined score, earning 583 smallbore and 597 air rifle for an aggregate score of 1180. Osborn's air rifle total was a personal best.
Four Mountaineers represented WVU in the eight-person air rifle final. Sophomore Jared Eddy finished fourth overall with a score of 204.9. Senior Milica Babic placed fifth (184.3), followed by junior David Koenders in sixth (163.3). Osborn finished seventh overall with a 142.4.
"Obviously, we want to compete and win conference championships, but we were beaten by a better team today," Mountaineer coach Jon Hammond said. "Kentucky shot great, but we had four individuals in the final. That was a positive for us, especially with Sarah and Jared's performances. I'm really pleased for them. As a team, we know we can shoot better air rifle, so we just have to keep working as hard as we can to make improvements."
Kentucky's Will Shaner won the air rifle title with a 247.8 score.
Osborn qualified for the final in third place, shooting a team-best 597 (100-98-100-100-100-99) in the day's first relay.
Eddy, who also shot in the first relay, entered the final in a tie for fourth with a career-high matching 596 (99-99-99-100-99-100) total.
Prior to the final, Babic and Koenders shot 595 and 593, respectively, toward the team scores.
Joining the duo on WVU's counting squad were senior Morgan Phillips, sophomore Verena Zaisberger and freshman Akihito Shimizu. Phillips and Zaisberger shot matching 591s, while Shimizu tallied a 590.
Junior Noah Barker (579) and freshmen Calista Smoyer (588) and Malori Brown (586) also shot in Saturday's competition.
"This weekend was great preparation for NCAAs, especially with the team members being in that tournament environment," Hammond said. "It's great experience. It's very competitive, and they were a lot of great shooters there. Often the scores are lower in a tournament-style setting, and you can see that across the board, so that's a big challenge. We'll just keep working on the little things the next few weeks, and we'll go into NCAAs with a positive outlook and enjoy the championship as much as we can."
Looking ahead, the Mountaineers will embark on a week of preparation before competing in the 2020 NCAA Rifle Championships, March 13-14, at the University of Kentucky, in Lexington.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVURifle on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
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