WVU settles for 2nd at NCAA rifle championships
CHARLESTON, S.C. — A championship showing in air rifle by the top-ranked West Virginia University rifle team was not enough to overcome an 18-shot deficit as the Mountaineers finished in second place at the NCAA rifle championships with a 4708 aggregate total, shot Saturday inside The Citadel’s McAlister Field House.
No. 4-ranked Kentucky claimed the national title with a 4717 mark, while second-ranked TCU finished third with a 4701 score, and third-ranked Murray State placed fourth with a 4684 total.
The Mountaineers did claim the team air rifle national championship, its sixth straight, with a 2381 total.
Air Force shot 4669 and placed fifth, followed Alaska-Fairbanks (4667), Ohio State (4664) and Nebraska (4655).
A trio of Mountaineers qualified for the air rifle final, and two advanced to the podium. Senior Elizabeth Gratz finished second in the final with a 247.3, and junior Ginny Thrasher placed third with a 226.4 score. Sophomore Milica Babic finished in sixth place with a 163.8 mark.
Kentucky’s Henrik Larsen edged Gratz for the air rifle title with a 249.4 score.
Babic was the day’s high qualifier, as she tied TCU’s Mindy Miles for first place with a 598 total. Thrasher qualified in third place, shooting 597, while Gratz shot 594 and was the final student-athlete to make the eight-person final.
In the day’s first relay, sophomore Morgan Phillips, who succesfully defended her 2017 NCAA smallbore title Friday, shot 592 and finished in 10th place. Redshirt-freshman David Koenders finished 13th overall with a 591 total.
TCU finished second in Saturday’s air rifle competition with a 2375 team total, while UK shot 2372 and finished in third place.
The nine-time reigning Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) champions, WVU finished the season with a 13-0 overall record and an 9-0 conference mark.
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