West Virginia Wins Third Straight NCAA Rifle Championship

Post date: Mar 17, 2015 6:37:21 AM

It was an impressive “three-peat” for The West Virginia University (WVU) rifle team. The WVU Mountaineers clinched their third straight NCAA Rifle Championship this weekend in Fairbanks, Alaska. Remarkably, this victory was the West Virginia’s 17th NCAA Rifle Championship — and it was a great team performance. WVU’s 4702 team aggregate score is the second-best in NCAA Championships history. And if you are curious, this Mountaineers squad also holds the best-ever team score, a 4705 shot by WVU at the 2014 NCAA Championships.

“It was an amazing performance today,” said coach Jon Hammond. “Winning three titles back to back is unreal. We have stressed with them all year to focus on performance and not outcome. They did that today. No one did anything wrong yesterday, but they performed the right way today. All five of them shot incredible. We really tried to not think about point difference or score. That’s the nature of the sport. You can’t control the other teams.”

Top Air Rifle Performances

The Mountaineers shot a 2383 air rifle team score, the second highest in team and NCAA history, and also took home the top three places in the individual final. WVU’s Maren Prediger, who placed second in last year’s NCAA final, won the individual air rifle title, leading her squad to the team victory in the process. In the first relay Maren was on fire, shooting a near-perfect 598 (100-100-99-100-100-99) score. The Petersaurach, Germany, native scored 205.8 in the final, earning the 2015 air rifle individual title. This was Maren’s last match as a Mountaineer.

“For Maren to shoot a 598 air rifle in her last match is incredible,” Hammond said. “I can’t fault her on anything this weekend. It says a lot about her character to come back today and win. She’s a world-class air rifle shooter. For her to win the final after being so close last year is a huge credit to her. To do it during her final match is even better.”

Air Rifle Shooters at Alaska-Fairbanks’ Patty Center. (WVU Photo by Jason Colquhoun)