Ole Miss rifle secured a second-place finish in the air rifle event at the Patriot Rifle Conference Tournament held in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The team’s performance resulted in a silver medal for aggregate scoring on Sunday.
Audrey Gogniat played a key role for Ole Miss by winning the individual gold medal in air rifle, defending her conference title with a score of 251.8 in the medal round. She outperformed Alaska Fairbanks’ Teagan Perkowski and TCU’s Mikole Hogan. In the qualifying round, Gogniat achieved her third career perfect score of 600, boosting her aggregate to 1193 points and placing her second overall behind TCU’s Katie Zaun. Her 58 center shots tied the school record for most in a single outing.
Gogniat became only the eighth athlete in Ole Miss history to achieve a perfect score and is now one instance closer to Lea Horvath’s school record of four perfect scores. Both Gogniat and teammate Gracie Dinh have reached this milestone during the current season, marking consecutive years where multiple Rebels have accomplished this feat—a first for the program.
The team matched its school record in air rifle with a total score of 2388, equaling a mark set during the 2021-22 season. Regan Diamond contributed with a personal best of 597, while Dinh scored 596 and Jordan de Jesus added 595.
Ole Miss posted an aggregate score of 4745—the third-highest in program history—just one point shy of their all-time high. Under first-year head coach Will Shaner, Ole Miss has achieved several milestones this season: recording its highest ever air rifle score, tying its aggregate record once against Murray State, setting its best smallbore mark (2368), and achieving another top-three all-time aggregate result.
Despite these achievements, Ole Miss finished just short of its first conference title as Nebraska took gold with an aggregate score of 4758. The Rebels tied TCU but earned silver due to five more center shots than their rival.
The competition began early Sunday morning with Gogniat and Diamond participating in the first relay at 7 a.m., scoring 600 and 597 respectively; Diamond’s result was also her career best. Gracie Dinh and Jordan de Jesus competed strongly as well—Dinh scored 596 while de Jesus recorded a mark of 595.
In addition to individual performances, Susan Carter rounded out scoring for Ole Miss with a total of 591—just one point away from her season best.
In the medal round final, Gogniat maintained control throughout: “She is Ole Miss’ lone two-time conference champion in any event, and the only one in air rifle.”
Looking ahead, Ole Miss will return home to Oxford to face Memphis on February 14 before meeting them again on the road on February 15.
For further updates about Ole Miss rifle activities or results visit their official social media channels or website at OleMissSports.com.
