Friday, March 13
Columbus, Ohio
9 A.M.
West Virginia University
vs
NCAA Championships (SB) - 2353 4th Place
Lake Hits Podium, WVU in Fourth After Smallbore at NCAA Championship
March 13, 2026 03:44 PM | Rifle
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Led by junior Griffin Lake's third-place finish in the smallbore competition, the West Virginia University rifle team sits in fourth place after the opening day of the 2026 NCAA Rifle Championships, hosted by Ohio State inside the Covelli Center in Columbus.
After shooting an opening-day smallbore score of 2353, WVU sits just three points off the lead, with Ole Miss, which fired a 2356. TCU and Nebraska sit just one point ahead of the Mountaineers, with matching 2354's in smallbore and Kentucky is tied with the Mountaineers at 2353.
Lake's performance highlighted the first day of competition, as he claimed his first career NCAA podium in smallbore, besting last season's sixth-place finish at the event. The Emmaus, Pa., native took third place with a 452.6 mark in the smallbore individual final. He earned a spot in the final after shooting the second-best qualifying score of 595, as his 44 centers were the most in the field.
Freshman Oceanne Muller also qualified for the finals at the event, where she turned in a sixth-place finish. She finished qualifying with the sixth-best mark in the field at 592.
In the first of two smallbore relays, sophomore Camryn Camp and junior Lauri Syrja, along with Lake, opened competition for WVU. Syrja turned in a 585 to claim 24th place, while Camp finished with a 590 in 38th place.
In the second relay, Muller was joined by junior Jennifer Kocher, who shot a 581, to finish in 34th place.
In the team standings, Navy (2346) sits in sixth, Georgia Southern (2338) is seventh, and Alaska Fairbanks rounds out the field in eighth at 2334.
West Virginia concludes action at the 2026 NCAA Rifle Championships on Saturday, March 14, in Columbus. Stats and live targets for tomorrow's championship finale will be available on WVUsports.com.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVURifle on X, Instagram and Facebook.
After shooting an opening-day smallbore score of 2353, WVU sits just three points off the lead, with Ole Miss, which fired a 2356. TCU and Nebraska sit just one point ahead of the Mountaineers, with matching 2354's in smallbore and Kentucky is tied with the Mountaineers at 2353.
Lake's performance highlighted the first day of competition, as he claimed his first career NCAA podium in smallbore, besting last season's sixth-place finish at the event. The Emmaus, Pa., native took third place with a 452.6 mark in the smallbore individual final. He earned a spot in the final after shooting the second-best qualifying score of 595, as his 44 centers were the most in the field.
Freshman Oceanne Muller also qualified for the finals at the event, where she turned in a sixth-place finish. She finished qualifying with the sixth-best mark in the field at 592.
In the first of two smallbore relays, sophomore Camryn Camp and junior Lauri Syrja, along with Lake, opened competition for WVU. Syrja turned in a 585 to claim 24th place, while Camp finished with a 590 in 38th place.
In the second relay, Muller was joined by junior Jennifer Kocher, who shot a 581, to finish in 34th place.
In the team standings, Navy (2346) sits in sixth, Georgia Southern (2338) is seventh, and Alaska Fairbanks rounds out the field in eighth at 2334.
West Virginia concludes action at the 2026 NCAA Rifle Championships on Saturday, March 14, in Columbus. Stats and live targets for tomorrow's championship finale will be available on WVUsports.com.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVURifle on X, Instagram and Facebook.
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