West Virginia University Wins 2013 NCAA Rifle Championships

Story based on report by By Kyle Jillson for NRABlog.com
West Virginia University (WVU) won its 15th NCAA Rifle Title this past weekend. The WVU Montaineers, the winningest team in NCAA Rifle competition history, finished with a final score of 4679 out of 4800 (combined air rifle and smallbore scores). The Mountaineers overcame a one-shot smallbore deficit and outshot the field in air rifle, scoring 2363. The WVU Mountaineers’ 4679 final point total is the second-highest in NCAA Rifle Championship history, bettered only by Kentucky’s 4,700 in 2011. Kentucky, always near the top, finish second this year with a 4670 score, while defending champ TCU took third with an aggregate score of 4,664.

WVU’s Petra Zublasing Wins both Smallbore and Air Rifle Titles
On a rifle team with many skilled shooters, WV’s Petra Zublasing proved to be the “best of the best”. At the 2013 Championships, Zublasing dominated the competition, winning both the Smallbore and Air Rifle individual events. Hailing from Appiano, Italy, Zublasing won the Mountaineers’ first Individual Smallbore Rifle Championship since 1997. After winning the smallbore event in a close match, in the air rifle competition she shot a 598 (99-100-100-100-100-99) — two points shy of a perfect score. That remarkable performance gave Petra the win, completing Zublasing’s sweep of the 2013 individual championships. Zublasing is the first shooter to win both NCAA titles at one championship since Alaska-Fairbanks’ Matthew Emmons took the victories in 2001. “Winning an individual title in both guns is just great, but I’m most happy that the team won,” says Zublasing.

Over the summer Zublasing shot for Italy in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. It was an eye opening experience she explained: “After the Olympics, I realized I actually like shooting. I don’t do this because I have to or because I’m good at it. I actually enjoy it and try to help everyone else realize they should just have fun.”

Watch Interview with Petra Zublasing

National Championship Celebration at WVU Coliseum on Monday, March 11th
West Virginia University fans are invited to attend a celebration for the national-champion rifle team Monday, March 11, from 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm in the Jerry West Lounge at the WVU Coliseum. Mountaineers Shooting Team members and team coach Jon Hammond will be available to greet fans and pose for photos. Fans can also take pictures with the team’s 15th NCAA Rifle Championships trophy.

West Virginia Squad Features Shooters from Many Nations
WVU Coach Jon Hammond, a Scot who still competes with Great Britain’s national team, has built the nation’s top shooting program by recruiting top young shooters from around the world. (Hammon himself shot for WVU during the 2002-2003 season.) The Mountaineer’s squad features talented shooters from both sides of the Atlantic. 2013 National Air Rifle and Smallbore champion Petra Zublasing is from Appiano, Italy. Sophomore Meelis Kiisk is from Paide, Estonia. Sophomore Maren Prediger is from Petersaurach, Germany. Freshman Garrett Spurgeon is from Canton, Missouri, Sophomore Taylor Ciotala is from Pasadena, Maryland, and Sophomore Thomas Kyanko, is from Wellsburg, West Virginia.

In leading her team to victory in 2013, Zublasing followed in the footsteps of another great foreign-born shooter, WVU All-American and Italian native Nicco Campriani. This talented young man, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist in the 3-P 50-meter event, literally re-wrote the record-books during his two collegiate seasons (2009-10 and 2010-11) with West Virginia.

“Nicco changed the level of shooting in U.S. [Collegiate rifle competition],” Hammond said. “He came over here and started shooting world-record scores — 590 and 600 in air rifle, which really hadn’t been done before. That raised the bar for us.”