LEXINGTON, Ky.  – The No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team defeated No. 3 Kentucky, 4749-4716, on Saturday in Lexington at the UK Rifle Range. The win claimed the Mountaineers 16^th Great American Rifle Conference title.
 
WVU finished the conference slate with a perfect 5-0 record to win their second straight conference title.
 
During the match, Lauri Syrja became the 10^th WVU athlete in program history to score a perfect 600 in air rifle. He is the second Mountaineer this season to reach the mark, joining Natalie Perring who finished perfect in the discipline against Army on Nov. 9, 2024.
 
West Virginia bested the Wildcats by 33 points. The Mountaineers hit marks of 2358 in smallbore and 2391 in air rifle to claim both disciplines. Kentucky managed scores of 2339 in smallbore and 2377 in air rifle.
 
For smallbore and air rifle, seniors Gavin Barnick and Perrin, sophomores Syrja and Griffin Lake and freshman Ashlyn Blake served as counters for the match.  
 
Barnick finished first on the overall leaderboard with an 1191 and added a first-place finish in smallbore with a 593. He scored a second-place mark of 598 in air rifle. Syrja finished just behind in second place with 1187 as he hit a mark of 587 in smallbore to go along with his perfect score in air rifle.
 
Blake scored a third-place finish of 1187 after producing a 591 in smallbore, the second-best score, and a 596 in air rifle. Freshman Jennifer Kocher finished in fourth place with a 1184 following marks of 586 in smallbore and 598 in air rifle. Her score in air rifle marked a season-high and placed second.
 
Freshman Camryn Camp finished in sixth place with her 1184 (591 SB – 593 AR). Lake and Perrin finished in a tie for seventh place with matching 1182 totals. Lake hit a 587 in smallbore and a 595 in air rifle as Perrin posted marks of 585 in smallbore and 597 in air rifle.
 
Freshman Jacob Wisman finished in ninth place with an 1180 (586 SB – 594 AR) and sophomore Maximus Duncan finished with an 1164 (582 SB – 582 AR).

The Mountaineers now turn their attention to the postseason with competition in the NCAA Qualifier on Saturday, Feb. 22. The match will be shot at the Bill McKenzie Mobile Rifle Range inside the WVU Shell building.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVURifle on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.