MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Senior Matt Sanchez and fifth-year Mary Tucker topped the individual smallbore podium, finishing in first and second place, during the opening day of competition of the Great America Rifle Conference Championship. West Virginia posted a smallbore aggregate score of 2366 to sit in first place in the championship being held in West Point, New York.
 
After shooting an opening-day smallbore score of 2366 on Saturday, the West Virginia University Rifle team sits 16 points ahead of second-place Kentucky who scored a 2350 during the first day of action.
 
West Virginia was led by Sanchez, who claimed first place in the smallbore final with a mark of 463.0. He finished just ahead of Tucker who posted a final score of 462.6. Tucker finished just ahead in qualifying with a 592 as Sanchez scored a 591.
 
In total, five Mountaineers qualified for the eight-person final. Senior Molly McGhin finished in fourth place, junior Gavin Barnick finished just behind in fifth place and freshman Griffin Lake claimed seventh. Barnick qualified for the finals with the second-highest qualifying mark in the field, a 593, which led WVU. Both McGhin and Lake fired 590's.
 
Senior Tal Engler hit a 587 while senior Becca Lamb matched a season high with a 584. Freshmen Lauri Syrja and Maximus Duncan produced similar 581s. Fifth-year Malori Brown fired a 580 and junior Natalie Perrin rounded out the Mountaineers scores with a 577.
 
Five Mountaineers counted toward the team's opening-day score: Barnick, Lake, McGhin, Sanchez and Tucker.
 
Memphis is third after a 2341 smallbore, while Ole Miss is fourth at 2340, Navy fifth at 2331, Akron sixth at 2334 and Army seventh at 2329.
 
West Virginia concludes action at the 2023-24 GARC Championships on Sunday, Feb. 25, in West Point, New York. Stats and live targets for tomorrow's championship finale will be available on WVUsports.com.