The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
GARC Championship
Weisz, Quartarone Earn GARC Honors
2/26/2016 | Rifle
OXFORD, Miss. - Following the opening day of the 2016 Great America Rifle Conference Championships (GARC), the conference handed out its regular season GARC awards at the banquet Friday night at the 1810 Grill.
Junior Alison Weisz earned Honorable Mention All-Conference honors in air rifle, while also being named the team's Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Assistant coach Melissa Quartarone was named the GARC Assistant Coach of the Year.
Weisz earned Honorable Mention All-Conference honors in air rifle for the second time in her career. The Belgrade, Montana native owns a 590 average in air rifle. On Thursday, Weisz earned her third consecutive NCAA bid and second in air rifle.
"I am always striving for more; I definitely want to get first team honors, hopefully next year," she said. "But given that I feel I have had a mediocre season, I am happy to still get honorable mention honors, especially in such a competitive conference."
"We are extremely proud of Ali," head coach Valerie Boothe said. "This has been her best year. She's made all-conference, has a really good shot at All-American and is representing us for the third straight year at NCAAs. You really can't ask for much more from Ali. She has worked hard and done her job all year."
As a former shooter for Ole Miss, Quartarone earned all-conference honors twice in smallbore and once in air rifle. She is in her second year on staff and has not only helped the Rebels improve, but also been involved in the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association on the awards committee.
"It's very exciting to receive an award from your peers," Quartarone said. "I wasn't expecting this, but I've been working really hard all year not just with our team, but with the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association. I feel like it's paid off."
"Melissa really deserved this," Boothe said. "It's nice to see all of our peers recognize her hard work. It's one thing for me to say 'good job' to her, but it's nice when the rest of the league notices it too."
West Virginia head coach Jon Hammond was named GARC Coach of the Year as his team finished first in the league. WVU's Garrett Spurgeon was named Shooter of the Year and Senior of the Year, while teammate Ginny Thrasher earned Rookie of the Year honors.
The GARC Championships continue at the Patricia C. Lamar National Guard Readiness Center Saturday morning beginning at 7 a.m. with team smallbore competition. The smallbore finals will be at 5:15 p.m.
Fans who attend Saturday will enjoy free breakfast from Chick-fil-a and receive a free Ole Miss Rifle bottle koozie. For more information on the GARC Championships, visit the championship central page.
For more information on Ole Miss Rifle, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissRifle, on Facebook at OleMissRifle and on Instagram @OleMissRifle. Also follow head coach Valerie Boothe on Twitter at @ValerieBoothe.
| AIR RIFLE | |
| FIRST TEAM | |
| Lucas Kozeniesky | North Carolina State |
| Patrick Sunderman | West Virginia |
| Elizabeth Gratz | West Virginia |
| Garrett Spurgeon | West Virginia |
| Ginny Thrasher | West Virginia |
| SECOND TEAM | |
| Hanna Carr | Kentucky |
| Jodi Cull-Host | Navy |
| Heather Kirby | Kentucky |
| Jean-Pierre Lucas | West Virginia |
| Meelis Kiisk | West Virginia |
| HONORABLE MENTION | |
| Sonya May | Kentucky |
| Denise Martin | Nebraska |
| Beth Lee | Memphis |
| Alison Weisz | Ole Miss |
| Michael Bamsey | West Virginia |
| COMBINED | |
| FIRST TEAM | |
| Lucas Kozeniesky | North Carolina State |
| Garrett Spurgeon | West Virginia |
| Ginny Thrasher | West Virginia |
| Hanna Carr | Kentucky |
| Meelis Kiisk | West Virginia |
| SECOND TEAM | |
| Elizabeth Gratz | West Virginia |
| Rachel Martin | Nebraska |
| Patrick Sunderman | West Virginia |
| Michael Bamsey | West Virginia |
| Jean-Pierre Luca | West Virginia |
| HONORABLE MENTION | |
| Amy Fister | Memphis |
| Sonya May | Kentucky |
| Will Anti | West Virginia |
| Denise Martin | Nebraska |
| Beth Lee | Memphis |
Rookie of the Year: Ginny Thrasher - West Virginia
Senior of the Year: Garrett Spurgeon - West Virginia
Shooter of the Year: Garrett Spurgeon - West Virginia
Regular Season
3rd Place: Nebraska
2nd Place: Kentucky
1st Place: West Virginia
Sportsmanship Award: North Carolina State
Assistant Coach of the Year: Melissa Quartarone - Ole Miss
Coach of the Year: Jon Hammond - West Virginia
Players Mentioned
