No. 3 West Virginia Downs Akron, Morehead State on Saturday

Saturday, January 29

Morgantown, W.Va.

8:00 a.m.

West Virginia University

4726

4670

Akron

Photo by: Rylan Nemesh

No. 3 West Virginia Downs Akron, Morehead State on Saturday

January 29, 2022 06:08 PM | Rifle

Results

By: Tanner Cain

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 3-ranked West Virginia University rifle team shot a combined team score of 4726 to pick up a pair of wins over No. 9 Akron (4670) and No. 12 Morehead State (4642) on Saturday, at the Bill McKenzie Mobile Rifle Range in Morgantown.

The Mountaineers (12-0, 7-0 GARC) swept both disciplines, capturing the smallbore crown with a 2347 and the air rifle relay with a 2379. Akron shot a 2306 in smallbore and a 2364 in air rifle to take second place, while Morehead finished in third place with scores of 2290 in smallbore and 2352 in air rifle.

"Another solid overall performance from the team today, again smallbore was our stronger event and we know we can improve in air rifle," WVU coach Jon Hammond said. "There was lots of consistency, which is good to see, over half the team with an 1180 aggregate score and lots of good things learned."

Eight WVU shooters finished inside the top 10 of the overall match leaderboard, including the top-seven spots. Sophomore Tal Engler placed first with an aggregate score 1182, while junior Calista Smoyer also shot an 1182 and claimed second place.

Engler tallied a 587 in smallbore and a 595 in air rifle, while Smoyer finished with a 584 in smallbore and a match-high 598 in air rifle. Of note, Smoyer's 598 in air rifle tied her career high in the discipline.

Additionally, nine student-athletes placed inside the top 10 of the match's smallbore standings, including the top-eight positions, and seven Mountaineers found themselves ranked inside the top 10 in air rifle. WVU claimed the top-six, individual spots in air rifle.

Senior Jared Eddy claimed third place on the individual leaderboard after shooting a combined score of 1180, including a 584 in smallbore and a 596 in air rifle. Eddy was one of four Mountaineers with an aggregate total off 1180.

Freshman Natalie Perrin finished in fourth and also tallied an 1180, including a 586 in smallbore and a 594 in air rifle. She was followed by junior Akihito Shimizu (591 smallbore, 589 air rifle) and senior Verena Zaisberger (583 smallbore, 597 air rifle) who each tallied an 1180 to finish in fifth and sixth, respectively.

Of note, Shimizu's 591 in the first relay was the highest smallbore score in the match.

Sophomore Becca Lamb came in seventh place with an aggregate score of 1176, including a 582 in smallbore and a 594 in air rifle.

Sophomore Molly McGhin came in ninth place after shooting an 1172 overall. The Griffin, Georgia, native tallied a 579 in smallbore and a 593 in air rifle.

Rounding out scores for WVU, junior Malori Brown tallied a combined score of 1171 (584 smallbore, 587 air rifle), while sophomore Matt Sanchez shot an 1167 (578 smallbore, 589 air rifle).

Following a week off, the Mountaineers will finish out the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 12, as the team plays host to Kentucky, the defending national champions, at the Bill McKenzie Rifle Range in Morgantown. West Virginia's regular-season finale is set to begin at 10 a.m. ET, inside the WVU Shell Building.

"It will be good having an off weekend, and then, we'll get ready for Kentucky," Hammond added. "It's not every day you get to shoot against the Olympic champion, and UK is the defending NCAA champions, so it will be a really hard match, but I'm looking forward to seeing us compete in that environment."