Ole Miss rifle has secured a place in the NCAA Rifle Championship for the sixth consecutive year, following a 10-2 regular season and a second-place finish at the Patriot Rifle Conference Tournament. The announcement was made during Monday’s Selection Show.
The team will compete for a national title from March 13-14 at Ohio State’s Converse Hall in Columbus, Ohio. This marks the seventh time overall that Ole Miss has qualified for the tournament since 2020-21.
During qualifying matches, Ole Miss achieved a team aggregate average of 4743.3. The Rebels recently defeated Memphis in the NCAA Qualifier with a score of 4738-4703, earning their tenth victory of the year. This is the second straight season Ole Miss has reached double-digit wins, and only the fourth time in program history.
This season saw Ole Miss set its top two air rifle scores (2390 and 2388), best smallbore score (2368), and tie its highest aggregate record (4746 against Murray State).
Sophomores Audrey Gogniat and Gracie Dinh have been key performers throughout the season. Both rank among the top ten shooters nationally based on aggregate averages, with Gogniat at fourth and Dinh at ninth. Nebraska is the only other Patriot Rifle Conference team with two shooters ranked in the top ten nationwide.
Both Gogniat and Dinh shot perfect scores of 600 in air rifle this season. Dinh accomplished her perfect score during a career day against Murray State, also shooting 596 in smallbore for an individual aggregate score of 1196—the second-best in program history behind Gogniat’s 1197.
Gogniat achieved her perfect air rifle score at the PRC Tournament while defending her conference title. She became only the second athlete to fire a perfect score both at a conference championship and an NCAA Tournament, as well as being the first to do so in back-to-back conference championships.
Gogniat, Dinh, and Jordan de Jesus competed at last year’s NCAA Tournament where Ole Miss finished fourth overall and took second place in air rifle. Gogniat won an individual national title, becoming Ole Miss’ first champion.
The teams competing alongside Ole Miss are Alaska Fairbanks, Georgia Southern, Kentucky, Navy, Nebraska, TCU, and West Virginia.
For updates on Ole Miss rifle, information can be found on Facebook (OleMissRifle), Twitter/X (@OleMissRifle), Instagram (@OleMissRifle), and at OleMissSports.com.
