MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University rifle team finished with a team score of 4738 to finish in first place for the third straight season at the 2025 Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) Championships on Sunday afternoon at the Bill McKenzie Mobile Rifle Range inside the WVU Shell Building in Morgantown.
West Virginia's aggregate score was the best in the championship field, edging out second-place Kentucky who scored 4728. The victory marks the 17th time in program history the Mountaineers have claimed the GARC Conference Tournament Championship.
The result is the second straight season the Mountaineers have claimed both the regular season on tournament title. It is the 13
th time in program history that WVU has accomplished the feat. West Virginia won both championships six straight seasons from 2014-2019.
The Mountaineers scored a first-place air rifle score of 2388. WVU entered the day with a four-point lead over Kentucky, producing the best smallbore score of 2350 during the opening day of action. Navy claimed third at 4705 (2339 SB – 2366 AR).
Five Mountaineers qualified for the air rifle final, seniors
Gavin Barnick and
Natalie Perrin, sophomores
Griffin Lake and
Lauri Syrja and freshman
Ashlyn Blake.
West Virginia swept the podium in the final with Blake in first, Perrin in second and Barnick in third. The finishes marked the second time this weekend Perrin and Barnick reached the podium with Barnick finishing first and Perrin in third during yesterday's smallbore final.
Syrja finished just behind in fourth place while Lake finished in 8th place.
Barnick and Lake finished with the second-highest aggregate totals for the championship with matching 1187 scores. Barnick hit marks of 589 in smallbore and 598 in air rifle while Lake scored a 590 in smallbore and a 597 in air rifle. Navy's Isabella Baldwin finished with the top aggregate total at 1188.
Perrin finished fifth with an 1185 (589 SB – 596 AR) and Blake finished with a matching 1185 (587 SB – 598 AR). Freshman
Jacob Wisman finished just behind with an 1184 (591 SB – 593 AR). Syrja rounded out the top 10 with an 1179 (584 SB – 595 AR).
Barnick, Blake, Kocher, Lake and Syrja served as counters for the match.
The Mountaineers will take a week off from competition before heading to the 2025 NCAA Rifle National Championship inside Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky, from March 14-15.
West Virginia qualified as the field's second-ranked team with a qualifying mark of 9496. Joining WVU at this year's championships are No. 1 Alaska Fairbanks, No. 3 Kentucky. No. 4 TCU, No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 6 Murray State, No. 7 Georgia Southern and No. 8 Air Force.
