In 1998, as in a dozen years before, Coach Marsha Beasley and her Mountaineer shooters won the NCAA championship—WVU's 13th national title in this sport, and its fourth in a row.
Rifle is a mental sport. It requires physical ability, but
in a different way than other sports where participants must be
able to run fast or jump high to achieve great results. As rifle
shooters attempt to shoot 50 feet away at a one-third of a millimeter
bullseye (slightly smaller than the size of the period at the
end of this sentence), their main objective is to stay perfectly
still and focus. There is no defense. The pressure is on each
individual to shoot a perfect 10 every shot.
When this team walks into the NCAA tournament each year, all eyes turn to them as the top rifle program in the country. Many expect them to look very serious as they are concentrating on the task at hand. Most are surprised to find them relaxed and seemingly carefree.
"When we go to the NCAAs, or any other competition, we try to just have fun and enjoy being around each other," says Beasley. "I think that's what makes our team different from most teams. Tension is only going to adversely effect your performance. It can make you shake. It's difficult to shoot when you're shaking."
Beasley stresses that her team still concentrates on their techniques and performance. They just don't let the pressure of the competition get to them.
"There is a fine line we try to balance on between relaxing and concentrating on the task," she says.
"We are always telling jokes to keep everything in perspective," says Tal Wilkins, a senior All-American. "We'll take breaks and throw the football around. Sometimes we play practical jokes on each other or on other teams. We try to keep things light, but we are still very focused—not tense—just focused when we're shooting."
Beasley and Wilkins admit that the Mountaineers' attitude may intimidate other competitors. "We don't try to play mind games," says Wilkins. "That may be the result, but that is just the attitude we always have—to have fun.
"You have to like what you're doing," he says. "We try to have fun all the time. We look forward to going to practice most of the time. My teammates are some of my best friends. Because we are so comfortable and relaxed in practice, we are comfortable and relaxed in competitions."
—Brian Crane