The West Virginia University rifle team continues to dominate the Great American Rifle Conference (GARC), securing its third consecutive championship title on Sunday. Competing at the Bill McKenzie Mobile Rifle Range in Morgantown, WVU posted a total score of 4,738, edging out the University of Kentucky by just ten points (4,728) to claim its 17th tournament victory. Read more WVU Rifle team wins third straight GARC Championship.
This season marked another impressive feat for the Mountaineers, as they swept both the regular-season and tournament titles for the second year in a row—something the program has now done 13 times. WVU set the tone early, leading the smallbore event with a 2,350 on day one before sealing the win with a first-place air rifle score of 2,388, narrowly outpacing Kentucky by four points. The U.S. Naval Academy rounded out the top three with a score of 4,705.
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WVU was well represented in the air rifle final, with five athletes advancing: seniors Gavin Barnick and Natalie Perrin, sophomores Griffin Lake and Lauri Syrja, and freshman Ashlyn Blake. Blake delivered a standout performance, taking first place, while Perrin finished second and Barnick claimed third. Syrja followed in fourth, and Lake placed eighth.
Individual Accolades
Individually, several Mountaineers posted remarkable aggregate scores. Barnick and Lake led the team with identical totals of 1,187—Barnick shooting 589 in smallbore and 598 in air rifle, while Lake posted 590 and 597, respectively. Perrin and Blake weren’t far behind, each scoring 1,185, while freshman Jacob Wisman finished with a 1,184. Syrja rounded out WVU’s strong showing with a 1,179.
With another championship under their belt, the Mountaineers now set their sights on the 2025 NCAA Rifle National Championship, taking place March 14-15 in Lexington, Kentucky. WVU enters the event ranked second with a qualifying score of 9,496, joining a competitive field featuring top-ranked University of Alaska Fairbanks, third-ranked Kentucky, and other elite programs.
