MORGANTOWN, W.Va.  – The No. 4-ranked West Virginia University rifle team suffered its first Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) loss of the season, as the Mountaineers fell, 4723-4717, to No. 2-ranked Kentucky on Saturday afternoon, at the Barker Hall Rifle Range, in Lexington, Kentucky. 
 
The Mountaineers (7-1, 5-1 GARC) were swept by the Wildcats (13-1, 6-0 GARC) with UK winning smallbore, 2344-2333. West Virginia took the lead in air rifle, 2379-2384.

"We had a tough match today and didn't necessarily perform to our full potential," Jon Hammond said. "I think there were a lot of areas that we could make up points, and while it's a loss, it was only by six points with a lot of room for improvement. Kentucky has two of the best shooters in the country. Both were selected for the US Olympic team and they just outperformed us today.
 
"There were still positive things. We had some excellent air rifle matches from Calista and Akihito while Sarah had a very good smallbore match. We'll get back in the range this week to keep working hard and finding ways to get better. We look forward to the NCAA qualifying match next weekend."
 
Despite the loss, WVU holds a 20-11 all-time series lead over UK since 1963.
 
Kentucky's Mary Tucker shot 1191 and finished first overall, while teammate Will Shaner totaled 1183 and placed second.
 
Senior Sarah Osborn and sophomore Akihito Shimizu both paced the Mountaineers with an aggregate total of 1182 and placed third overall, while sophomore Calista Smoyer finished third on the team and sixth overall with a combined score of 1180.

Osborn took second place in smallbore with a 589 (194 kneeling, 200 prone, 195 standing) mark, while junior Jared Eddy posted a 586 (193 kneeling, 199 prone, 194 standing) smallbore mark, good enough for a three-way tie with Kentucky's Shaner and Jaden Thompson for third. 
 
Sophomore Malori Brown followed in sixth with a 585 mark. Shimizu and junior Verena Zaisberger tied for seventh in the discipline with 584.
 
Smoyer (582) and freshman Molly McGhin (581) placed ninth and 10th, respectively, while freshman Tal Engler shot a 577, good for 12th. Sophomore Becca Lamb landed in 13th with a 575 mark.

Tucker shot 593 for the discipline win.

In air rifle, Tucker (100-100-99-99-100-100), Shimizu (100-99-100-100-100-99) and Smoyer (99-100-100-99-100-100) tied for first overall with matching 598s. In the tie, Smoyer matched her career-high total.

McGhin and Engler tied with a 596 and placed fifth. They were followed by Osborn who shot a 593 to take eighth. Eddy finished in ninth with a 592.
 
Brown and Zaisberger tied for 10th place with a 591, while Lamb rounded out scoring for the Mountaineers' with a 585, good for 14th.
  
Five Mountaineers counted toward the team's scores: Eddy, Lamb, McGhin, Shimizu and Smoyer.

The Mountaineers next shoot an NCAA Qualifying Match on Saturday, Feb. 20, at the Lt. Hugh W. Wylie Range, in Columbus, Ohio.
 
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