Friday, February 25
West Point, N.Y.
All Day
West Virginia University
vs
GARC Championships
Photo by: Rylan Nemesh
WVU Takes Second Place After Day One at GARC Championships
February 25, 2022 06:04 PM | Rifle
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After shooting an opening-day score of 2345 on Friday, the West Virginia University Rifle team sits in second place at the 2021-22 Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) Championships in West Point, New York.
Kentucky holds first place after shooting a 2352 in smallbore on day one. Behind WVU, Ole Miss shot a 2343 to rank third, while Navy (2333) and Akron (2325) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, after the first day.
West Virginia was led by junior Akihito Shimizu, who claimed third place in the smallbore final by shooting a 447.5. The Tokushima, Japan, native shot a 588 in the preliminary round to reach the final.
Additionally, sophomore Tal Engler also made an appearance in the smallbore final and shot a 413.3 to take third place. The Tzur Yigal, Israel, native shot a team-best 590 to capture the berth.
Navy's Marleigh Duncan (462.4) and Ole Miss' Abby Buesseler (459.1) claimed first and second place, respectively in the smallbore finale.
"Not a bad first day for us, some really good performances from Tal and Akihito to make the final and a smallbore team score right around our average, so it puts us in a solid position," WVU coach Jon Hammond said. "It was great to see Aki have a good final and finish third, and I hope that gives him some good confidence for tomorrow."
On the overall match leaderboard in the preliminary smallbore relay, Engler's 590 and Shimizu's 588 placed them fourth and seventh, respectively. Kentucky's Mary Tucker claimed the top score in the prelims, with a 593.
Behind Engler and Shimizu, junior Calista Smoyer shot the third-highest score in the prelims with a 586 (193 kneeling, 199 prone, 194 standing). She was followed by senior Verena Zaisberger, who shot a 585, and sophomore Molly McGhin, who showed a 584.
Freshman Natalie Perrin shot a 582 on the first day and was followed by senior Jared Eddy, who tallied a 581. Sophomore Matt Sanchez posted a 580 and was the last of eight Mountaineers to shoot a 580 or better in the opening relay.
Rounding out West Virginia's scores, junior Malori Brown and sophomore Becca Lamb tallied a 578 and 569, respectively.
Five Mountaineers counted toward the team's opening day score: Eddy, Engler, Perrin, Shimizu and Zaisberger.
"We'll have a hard task catching Kentucky in air rifle, with two Olympic medalists from air rifle on their team, but we'll try and have the best performances we can and see what happens," Hammond added.
West Virginia concludes action at the 2021-22 GARC Championships on Saturday, Feb. 26, in West Point. Stats and live targets for tomorrow's championship finale will be available on WVUsports.com.
Kentucky holds first place after shooting a 2352 in smallbore on day one. Behind WVU, Ole Miss shot a 2343 to rank third, while Navy (2333) and Akron (2325) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, after the first day.
West Virginia was led by junior Akihito Shimizu, who claimed third place in the smallbore final by shooting a 447.5. The Tokushima, Japan, native shot a 588 in the preliminary round to reach the final.
Additionally, sophomore Tal Engler also made an appearance in the smallbore final and shot a 413.3 to take third place. The Tzur Yigal, Israel, native shot a team-best 590 to capture the berth.
Navy's Marleigh Duncan (462.4) and Ole Miss' Abby Buesseler (459.1) claimed first and second place, respectively in the smallbore finale.
"Not a bad first day for us, some really good performances from Tal and Akihito to make the final and a smallbore team score right around our average, so it puts us in a solid position," WVU coach Jon Hammond said. "It was great to see Aki have a good final and finish third, and I hope that gives him some good confidence for tomorrow."
On the overall match leaderboard in the preliminary smallbore relay, Engler's 590 and Shimizu's 588 placed them fourth and seventh, respectively. Kentucky's Mary Tucker claimed the top score in the prelims, with a 593.
Behind Engler and Shimizu, junior Calista Smoyer shot the third-highest score in the prelims with a 586 (193 kneeling, 199 prone, 194 standing). She was followed by senior Verena Zaisberger, who shot a 585, and sophomore Molly McGhin, who showed a 584.
Freshman Natalie Perrin shot a 582 on the first day and was followed by senior Jared Eddy, who tallied a 581. Sophomore Matt Sanchez posted a 580 and was the last of eight Mountaineers to shoot a 580 or better in the opening relay.
Rounding out West Virginia's scores, junior Malori Brown and sophomore Becca Lamb tallied a 578 and 569, respectively.
Five Mountaineers counted toward the team's opening day score: Eddy, Engler, Perrin, Shimizu and Zaisberger.
"We'll have a hard task catching Kentucky in air rifle, with two Olympic medalists from air rifle on their team, but we'll try and have the best performances we can and see what happens," Hammond added.
West Virginia concludes action at the 2021-22 GARC Championships on Saturday, Feb. 26, in West Point. Stats and live targets for tomorrow's championship finale will be available on WVUsports.com.
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