Coaching Staff At the NCAA Championships, WVU amassed a twoday total of 4704 to finish in fourth place.
conference action, and completed the year ranked No. 3 nationally.
In the classroom, Verena Zaisberger became the fourth Mountaineer since 20211-12 to win the NCAA’s Elite 90 Award after achieving a 4.0 gradepoint average. The Hohenems, Austria, native also was named the GARC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Academically, seven Mountaineers were named to the 2020 Academic All-Big 12 At-Large First Team, while Malori Brown and Calista Smoyer landed on the Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team.
At year’s end, five student-athletes were named to the 2021 Academic All-Big 12 At-Large First Team.
2015-20 Seasons
In Hammond’s 14th season at WVU, the Mountaineers competition was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic just before the 2020 NCAA Rifle Championships.
JOHN
HAMMOND
» HEAD COACH » 16TH SEASON » ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND
Making good on a promise put in place upon his hiring, Jon Hammond, a native of Aberdeen, Scotland, has returned the West Virginia University rifle team to national glory, implementing a strategy for success that has seen six national championships in 15 seasons, 10 individual NCAA titles, 11 Great America Rifle Conference (GARC) Championships, six undefeated seasons, 173 All-America honors and 17 CoSIDA Academic All-America recognitions. Additionally, Hammond has overseen the careers of multiple Olympians, including 2016 Gold Medalists Ginny Thrasher and Nicco Campriani.
2020-21: Competing in a Pandemic
Despite a challenging year brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, West Virginia continued to maintain its level of excellence, even if it meant starting Hammond’s 15th season a few months later than normal. Facing new types of challenges on a daily basis, the Moutaineers qualified for their 14th consecutive NCAA Championships and ranked No. 4 nationally to conclude the 2020-21 campaign. WVU also took home its conference-best 14th GARC title, including its 11th in a row, scoring a two-day total of 4727. A program-record nine shooters also took home a combined 22 All-America honors from the College Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA), marking the third time since 2016 and the second year in a row the team has accomplished the feat. In addition, those nine shooters also earned 21 All-GARC Honors.
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At seasons end, eight shooters earned a combined 21 National Rifle Association (NRA) and CRCA All-America honors. It’s the first time WVU had over 20 All-America honors in one season since 2016. Milica Babic, who graduated from WVU with 11 All-America awards, was the only shooter named to all three first teams. Babic also finished her four-year career with the GARC Outstanding Senior title, becoming the 11th Mountaineer to claim the conference’s top senior award. Of note, a WVU student-athlete has earned the honor every season but two since 2015. West Virginia finished second at the 2020 GARC Championship, held in Memphis, Tennessee, with a two-day total of 4963. WVU finished second in smallbore (2323) and second in air rifle (2370). Sarah Osborn completed the conference championships with the second-best combined score, earning 583 smallbore and 597 air rifle for an aggregate score of 1180. The Mountaineers finished the regular season with a 9-1 mark, including a 7-1 record in
David Koenders earned his second straight Academic All-America honor, landing on the men’s first team after receiving third team recognition the year before. He also was one of 49 students named to the WVU Foundation’s Outstanding Seniors list. Additionally, the Mountaineers participated in their second foreign training trip, traveling to Tokyo, Japan last winter, as all 10 members competed in a friendly shooting competition against the All-Japan University Team. The Mountaineers enjoyed a strong showing in 2018-19. Hammond played an instrumental role in helping the Mountaineers host the first-ever NCAA Championships in Morgantown last season, as a record two-day crowd of 2,215 fans were in attendance. WVU finished second at the NCAA Championships with a 4692 mark at the WVU Coliseum. West Virginia won its 10th consecutive GARC Championship title with a 4715 aggregate score that same season. The title was the team’s conference-best 13th, and WVU swept the smallbore and air rifle team titles for the 10th time since 1998. The Mountaineers also won the GARC regular-season crown for the sixth year in a row with an 8-0 record. Thrasher capped her brilliant four-year career with her fifth GARC title, successfully defending her air rifle title for the third consecutive season, while rising senior Morgan Phillips won the smallbore title. Additionally, Thrasher was named the GARC
