Rifle: Seven Earn NRA All-America Honors

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Seven West Virginia University rifle student-athletes have earned 12 National Rifle Association (NRA) 2010 All-America honors.

The seven honorees matches a decade-high mark first achieved last season. Ten Mountaineers earned All-America honors in 1987, a program-best mark.

Five Mountaineers garnered air rifle honors, including four selections to the first team, while seven were named smallbore honorees.

“These are great individual honors that cap off an excellent season,” says Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) Coach of the Year Jon Hammond. “Seven honorees alone is great, but for all seven to earn smallbore awards is amazing and shows the depth we possessed this season. Also, the four first team air rifle selections demonstrate the talent we had at the top of our lineup.

“Though the NCAA Championships results were are a bit of a disappointment, these honors are a great way to end the year.”

Junior transfer Nicco Campriani concluded an abbreviated first year at WVU with first-team air rifle and smallbore honors. The Florence, Italy, native is the only Mountaineer selected to both first teams.

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Here's a short quiz from our friend Chip Lohman, Editor of Shooting Sports USA, and former Youth Programs Staffer.

Which of the following are true? The National Rifle Association _________.

1. Was created just after the Civil War (1871) to promote firearms safety and marksmanship skills.
2. Has raised $72,000,000+ since 1994 for shooting sports, over half of which went to programs like 4-H, FFA and Boy Scouts of America.
3. Teaches 1,000,000 people each year through gun safety classes or coaching.
4. Sanctions more than 15,000 shooting tournaments each year.
5. Conducts shooting sports activities whose accident rate is so low, the American Safety Council doesn’t track them.
6. Assists more than 3,000,000 youth who regularly participate in shooting sports.
7. The U.S. has 200 colleges with shooting teams, nearly half of which offer scholarships.
8. All of the above.

If you chose ‘H,’ you’re correct! Learn more about what the NRA does for young shooters.

The second day of the Rifle Championships was held at TCU's Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. Here shooters squared off with air rifles as spectators watched from the comfortable seats of the arena. Like the previous year, score displays were projected on to huge screens that could be seen from any seat.

There were only two relays for air rifle as a larger line could be accomodated. After each got off their 60 shots, the 14 who had made it to the finals were called in after a short break. Janine Dutton, Nebraska; Jonathan Hall, Columbus State; Ashley Jackson, Kentucky; Erin Lorenzen, Texas Christian; Caitlin Morrissey, Texas Christian; Emily Quiner, Murray; Keely Stankey, Mississippi and Sarah Scherer, Texas Christian took their positions and the air rifle finals began.

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TCU Fires To First-Ever Rifle Title 

FORT WORTH, Texas - The tradeoff wasn't a bad one for TCU freshman Sarah Beard.

In exchange for being the designated trophy holder, which requires two hands, Beard's TCU Horned Frog hand symbol was barely visible as photographers snapped away.

Oh well, whatever.

Beard's four teammates made the point for her, as she and the Frogs posed Saturday after winning their first NCAA Rifle team championship on their home floor at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.

"I'm still pretty shocked," Beard said. "We've worked hard to all shoot well on the same day. I guess we picked the right day to do it."

TCU won its first NCAA team title since the 1983 women's golf team. TCU had football national titles in 1935 and '38. In 31 years of the NCAA awarding titles in the coed sport of rifle, the Horned Frogs are the first all-women's team to win it all.

Entering Saturday's air rifle portion, TCU was second overall behind all-male Alaska-Fairbanks in the team standings, trailing by six points. The Nanooks won Friday's team smallbore (.22 caliber) portion, but Frogs freshman Sarah Scherer had won the smallbore individual title.

With TCU breathing down its neck all weekend, Alaska-Fairbanks fell behind after the first air rifle relay, or preliminary round. TCU freshman Caitlin Morrissey and senior Erin Lorenzen shot scores of 593 and 590, respectively, out of a possible 600 points (60 shots, 10 points maximum each).

Friday's smallbore competition featured some impressive showings. The day itself was bright and sunny. Tents with live displays of the electronic targets were set up outside which allowed spillover from the entry room to comfortably watch the relays. This was a welcome change to all involved after last year's rain-soaked experience forced everyone to crowd together.

After the four relays, the finals narrowed it down to nine competitors. Chris Burleson, Navy; Brandi Eskew, West Virginia; Amanda Furrer, Ohio State; Sara Lehman, Army; Erin Lorenzen, Texas Christian; Patrik Sartz, Alaska; Sarah Scherer, Texas Christian and Bryant Wallizer, West Virginia faced off for ten shots to determine who would claim the championship.

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Today was the air rifle championship for NCAA Rifle and, just like in smallbore, it came down to the last shot for the individual crown.

The NRA All-American banquet and ceremony are about to begin, but here are the final standings for each category:

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The smallbore portion of the NCAA Rifle Championships went off without a hitch yesterday and we'll bring you a full re-cap early next week.

It must be mentioned that the finals for smallbore individual had a spectacular ending when Sarah Scherer from TCU posted a 10.9 on her last shot to clench the win. The crowds that had gathered around monitors displaying live updates were very impressed -- congrats Sarah.

Today is the air rifle leg of the championships and you can follow the scores online here or here. 

Check below the jump for a photo of the score display for the last shot in the smallbore individual final. More...

Curious what the fuss is all about but can't make it to Fort Worth this weekend?

Tune in to watch the 31st annual NCAA Rifle Championships live.

Columbus State shooter aims for national title

Fresh off his top finish in the NCAA Sectional Qualifier last month, Columbus State shooter Jonathan Hall was selected to compete as an individual qualifier in air rifle for the 2010 NCAA Rifle Championships.

Hall and CSU coach Mike Greene will be in Fort Worth, Texas, this weekend for the championship, hosted by Texas Christian University.

“I was excited,” Hall said of the moment he learned he was one of only eight individual shooters chosen to compete. “I felt relieved from the hope of wanting to make it.”

The 22-year-old rifleman was selected after posting the best scores in the smallbore and air rifle events in the NCAA Sectional held Feb. 13-14 at The Citadel. Hall shot a 592 in the air rifle competition and a 581 in the smallbore out of a possible 600 in the sectional to take top honors.

“He’s probably one of the top five air gun shooters in the country,” Greene said. “It’s exciting just to be a part of this and to have him. He’s a team leader, but it’s great to have somebody of that caliber open so many doors for him, for me and for CSU.”

Though the university’s first-year rifle program as a whole had much success this season and in last month’s qualifier, it did not make the cut for the national championship, meaning Hall will be the lone representative.

“I was really disappointed in the fact that we all didn’t make it,” Hall said.

Continue reading here. 

The 31st Annual National Collegiate Men's and Women's Rifle Championships will be held this weekend, March 12 & 13, at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. West Virginia and Alaska-Fairbanks are heavy favorites to add another team championship under their belt, but don't think one of the other six schools can't sweep in and take it home this year.

NRAblog will be there to cover the action and bring you updates, photos and interviews from the championships.

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The NCAA Rifle Championships are right around the corner!

From NavySports.com:

Navy Rifle Claims MAC Championship

NEW LONDON, Conn. -- The Navy rifle team rallied from an 11-point smallbore deficit to defeat Akron in the Mid-Atlantic Rifle Conference Championship, 4584 - 4564, on Saturday afternoon. The win improves Navy's record to 8-1 overall, heading into next weekend's NCAA Championship.

Navy failed to win the smallbore discipline at the MAC Championships for the first time since 1999, but the air rifle title was the program's seventh straight.

"Getting ready for NCAAs, this was not the score we wanted. We had been shooting significantly higher scores in practice, so today was a disappointing day," said Navy head coach Bill Kelley. "Hopefully, today's performance is a wake-up call."

The Mids trailed 2282 - 2271 after the smallbore portion. Kenan Wang and Chris Burleson led Navy with a 571 each. Ryan Williams totaled a 569, and Alison Lankes rounded out Navy's scoring with a 560.

The Mids then rallied in air rifle, outscoring the Zips, 2313 - 2282, to earn the 20-point victory overall. Lankes led Navy with a 583. Burleson followed with a 579, while Wang and Williams scored a 577 and 574, respectively.

Navy will now practice for a couple of days before leaving for Fort Worth, Texas, for the NCAA Championships on Wednesday.

Continue reading here, and don't go anywhere! Our very own Kyle Jillson will soon be reporting live on this year's collegiate championships.

The team and individual participants of this year's NCAA Rifle Championships have been announced by the Men's and Women's Rifle Committee:

Men's and Women's Rifle Committee Announces 2010 Championships Participants

INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA Men’s and Women’s Rifle Committee has announced the team and individual qualifiers for the 2010 National Collegiate Men’s and Women’s Rifle Championships.

Hosted by Texas Christian University, the championships will be held March 12-13 in Fort Worth, Texas, at the TCU Rifle Range and the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.

A total of 48 competitors were selected for the championships. The top eight teams in both the smallbore three-position and air rifle events were selected based on the average of the three highest regular-season aggregate scores with no more than one match at any given site. The average of the three highest scores was added to the aggregate scores from the designated qualifiers to determine the top eight teams.

See the rest of the article and the list of chosen participants at the NCAA website here.

Things are always changing here at NRA Headquarters. There are new people, new events, and new competitions to help expand our work in the firearms community. In the Competitive Shooting Division, one change arrived in the form of a plaque.

Positioned in the center of the hall for all to see, the new plaque is a reminder to all as to the purpose of the Competitive Shooting Department. It reads:

OUR VISION

To be the leading provider of the highest quality competitive shooting programs and services
to America's gun owners.

OUR MISSION

NRA's Competitive Shooting Division will use all available assets to grow the shooting sports
by increasing participation in new and existing programs and to develop and promote competition knowledge,
skills, and abilities.

"We talk about the vision and mission of the of competitive shooting at our meetings," said Disabled Shooting Services Manager Vanessa Warner. "This plaque helps to reminds us that even though we work towards differnt goals, we need to accomplish them in the same vision."

"Everyone. That's how we do things here."

West Virginia University's resurgent rifle team sits atop the NCAA and looks to gain its 15th trophy. From The Washington Post:

At West Virginia, the rifle team is a point of pride

Buoyed by grass-roots support, restored program is back in the championship zone

MORGANTOWN, W.VA. — More than 60,000 people jam into Milan Puskar Stadium to cheer West Virginia's football team on Saturdays each fall. This winter, 14,000 will pack WVU Coliseum to root on a Mountaineers men's basketball team with Final Four aspirations.

But neither team is as central to this state's hard-working identity as one that draws virtually no spectators yet is exceptional on two counts.

West Virginia's rifle team is the only Mountaineers squad to have won an NCAA championship -- 14, in fact. And it's the only team with its own line item in the state budget: a $100,000 annual appropriation that represents a none-too-subtle rebuke to a university that dropped its most decorated sport in 2003.

The team's reinstatement and subsequent reclamation of its status as the nation's preeminent shooting power is one of the more improbable comebacks in college sports. Instead of aspiring professional athletes, the key players were rank-and-file taxpayers, disillusioned parents and students, and small businesses such as Donnie's Citgo and Bub's Bar and Grill that mobilized a grass-roots fundraising campaign and lobbying campaign and forced the university to change its mind.

"Hunting and shooting is a big thing here," says junior Brandi Eskew of Petersburg, W.Va., one of two women on WVU's rifle team, who learned to hunt alongside her father as a child. "It's something that pretty much everyone does at some point. And it's something they can relate to more than a lot of other sports."

We have something new from the NRA Collegiate & Schools Program. This year, Collegiate & Schools is introducing a NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Club Championship that is open to all levels of collegiate shooters.

This new championship includes NRA College Rifle Clubs, ROTC Teams, Varsity Rifle Teams, and independent shooters. Currently, there is no championship match.

Hosted by Purdue University, the 2010 NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Club Championship will be held April 8-11.

NRA College Rifle Clubs, Varsity Rifle Teams, and ROTC Teams will have both individual and team champions while Independent Shooters will have only an individual champion.

“I am extremely excited about this new championship and would like to thank Purdue University for generously offering to host. The opportunities this will afford to collegiate rifle clubs are immeasurable,” said Croft. “I eagerly anticipate this brand new championship, and urge all rifle clubs across the nation to shoot in the Intercollegiate Sectionals in hopes of qualifying.”