Eight Mountaineer Shooters Earn All-American Honors

Even without a national championship, West Virginia’s rifle team was still able to earn some awards this weekend.

Eight Mountaineers on the team earned All-American honors from the National Rifle Association and College Rifle Coaches Association.

“I’m really proud of the team this year and seeing eight of them receive All-America honors is a huge testament to the depth of the team,” WVU coach Jon Hammond said in a release. “They all pushed each other to get better, which is what good teams do, and this is a nice reward for all their hard work. It’s been awhile since we’ve had this many All-Americans, and that shows great promise to the future of this team.”

Senior Milica Babic was named to the first team for both smallbore and air aifle NRA teams and was on the first team for CRCA. Fellow senior Morgan Philips landed on the NRA’s smallbore first team and the CRCA third team.

Junior David Koenders and Sarah Osborn both landed on the NRA smallbore second team with Koenders also earning his way onto the NRA air rifle first team and Osborn the NRA air rifle second team. Koenders was on the CRCA’s second team and Osborn the third team.

Sophomores Verena Zaisberger and Jared Eddy were both CRCA honorable mentions and on the NRA air rifle teams. Zaisberger on the first team and Eddy on the second.

Freshman Malori Brown was named to the NRA’s smallbore second team and was a CRCA honorable mention. Fellow freshman Akihito Shimizu was on the NRA smallbore second team, NRA air rifle first team and CRCA second team.

WVU was set to compete in the national championship this weekend, but the NCAA canceled al Winter and Spring championships in response to the coronavirus outbreak.