The 2026 NCAA Rifle Championships was a tournament held to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rifle shooting champions for the 2025–26 season. The 46th annual edition of the championship was held on March 13 and 14, 2026, at the Covelli Center on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, United States.
West Virginia repeated as national champions, winning its 21st tournament with a 4748-point aggregate score. TCU finished second with 4741 points, marking the university's seventh runner-up finish in the NCAA championships. Ole Miss finished third with 4738 points, tying its best-ever finish in a national championship.
Griffin Lake of West Virginia was named the Most Outstanding Performer after finishing first in individual aggregate scoring, with 1,194 points. He finished second in the aggregate in both the smallbore and air rifle competitions, with 595 and 599 points, respectively. Braden Peiser of Kentucky won the individual smallbore competition with an NCAA record-tying aggregate of 596 points, while Audrey Gogniat won the individual air rifle competition with a perfect aggregate score of 600 points. Gogniat's win marked her second consecutive individual air rifle championship.
Bid selection Teams were selected by averaging their three highest regular-season match aggregate scores and adding that value to their aggregate score at their designated NCAA qualifier event. The top eight teams would be selected to compete in the national championship. The NCAA hosted its selection show for rifle on February 23.
+ Team qualifiers for the 2026 NCAA rifle championship Team Appearance Last appearance Alaska 39th 2025 Georgia Southern 2nd 2025 Kentucky 31st 2025 Navy 30th 2024 Nebraska 21st 2024 Ole Miss 7th 2025 TCU 19th 2025 West Virginia 42nd 2025
Five shooters each from the eight selected schools competed in the individual smallbore and air rifle events. Eight individuals from non-qualifying schools also qualified for the national championships based on their marks in their NCAA qualifier event. In the smallbore event, Addison Antweiler of Army, Katrina Demerle of Memphis, and Carlotta Salafia and Lea Soulé of Murray State qualified. In air rifle, Lily Wytko and Lily Martin of Air Force, Caroline Martin of Murray State, and Kameron Wells of UTEP qualified.
Results Smallbore
Day one of the event, held on March 13 at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio, saw the smallbore competition take place. Braden Peiser of Kentucky had the top aggregate score in the qualifying round, a mark of 596, heading into the individual smallbore final. Peiser's 596 mark tied the NCAA Championships record for smallbore. Qualifying alongside Peiser for the final individual competition was Kentucky teammate Elizabeth Probst, Ole Miss shooters Audrey Gogniat and Gracie Dinh, West Virginia shooters Griffin Lake and Océanne Muller, TCU shooter Katie Zaun, and Nebraska shooter Emma Rhode.
Peiser led for nearly all of the final. Dinh and Rhode were first eliminated, with scores of 405.9 and 406.3, respectively. Muller was next eliminated with a score of 419.9, good for a sixth-place finish. Zaun finished fifth, eliminated next with a score of 430.3, before Probst was eliminated with a score of 441.8 for a fourth-place finish. This left Peiser, Gogniat, and Lake as the podium field. Lake was next to be eliminated, and finished third with a score of 452.6, leaving Peiser and Gogniat as the final two remaining. After the shootout final, Peiser emerged as the winner, firing a mark of 466.0 in the final compared to Gogniat's 464.4.
+ Individual smallbore final results Place Athlete Team Qualifying score Final score Braden Peiser Kentucky 596 466.0 Audrey Gogniat Ole Miss 592 464.4 Griffin Lake West Virginia 595 452.6 4 Elizabeth Probst Kentucky 592 441.8 5 Katie Zaun TCU 593 430.3 6 Océanne Muller West Virginia 592 419.9 7 Emma Rhode Nebraska 591 406.3 8 Gracie Dinh Ole Miss 593 405.9
As a team, Ole Miss emerged as the day one winner, with an aggregate score of 2356. TCU and Nebraska tied for second behind the Rebels, with 2354 points. TCU, however, had more centers than Nebraska, giving the Horned Frogs the second spot and the Cornhuskers third.
+ Team smallbore results Place Team Aggregate score Centers Ole Miss 2356 142 TCU 2354 147 Nebraska 2354 128 4 West Virginia 2353 144 5 Kentucky 2353 131 6 Navy 2346 126 7 Georgia Southern 2338 118 8 Alaska 2334 119
Air rifle
Day two of the event, held on March 14 at the Covelli Center, saw the air rifle competition take place. At the end of the qualifying round, Ole Miss' Audrey Gogniat held the leading aggregate score, with a perfect 600 mark. The perfect mark was the fourth such score in her career, becoming the third person in NCAA history to record four perfect scores in air rifle competition. Also qualifying for the final were West Virginia shooters Griffin Lake, Océanne Muller, and Jennifer Kocher, TCU's Mikole Hogan and Katie Zaun, Nebraska's Katlyn Sullivan, and Georgia Southern's Tori Watts.
In the air rifle final, first eliminated was Watts of Georgia Southern with a score of 122.7, good for eighth place. Kocher of West Virginia finished seventh with a score of 144.1. The pair of TCU shooters finished sixth and fifth- Zaun recorded a score of 166.2, while Hogan recorded a 187.3 mark. Muller of West Virginia finished fourth with 208.2, leaving fellow West Virginian Lake, Gogniat of Ole Miss, and Sullivan of Nebraska as the podium field.
In the final three, Sullivan held the lead, while Lake held the second place spot. On the 22nd shot, however, Gogniat took over the second spot, which she held to advance to the shootout with Sullivan. Lake finished in third, with a score of 229.2. In the shootout, Sullivan led by as many as two points, but Gogniat came back to claim her second straight air rifle crown. Sullivan finished second with 249.9 points, while Gogniat won with 251.0.
+ Individual air rifle final results Place Athlete Team Qualifying score Final score Audrey Gogniat Ole Miss 600 251.0 Katlyn Sullivan Nebraska 599 249.9 Griffin Lake West Virginia 599 229.2 4 Océanne Muller West Virginia 599 208.2 5 Mikole Hogan TCU 598 187.3 6 Katie Zaun TCU 598 166.2 7 Jennifer Kocher West Virginia 599 144.1 8 Tori Watts Georgia Southern 598 122.7
As a team, West Virginia finished first in aggregate scoring in air rifle. The Mountaineers' mark of 2395 tied the NCAA record for air rifle score. TCU finished second with 2387, while Kentucky finished third with 2383.
+ Team air rifle results Place Team Aggregate score Centers West Virginia 2395 211 TCU 2387 207 Kentucky 2383 197 4 Ole Miss 2382 197 5 Nebraska 2382 190 6 Alaska 2380 190 7 Georgia Southern 2379 202 8 Navy 2376 184
Final Following the air rifle results, West Virginia emerged as the tournament's winner, reprising their finish in the 2025 edition with an aggregate score of 4748. The win marked an NCAA-record 21 tournament wins for the Mountaineers, and their eighth under head coach Jon Hammond. TCU finished second with a 4741 score, marking the seventh runner-up finish in the Horned Frogs' history. Ole Miss rounded out the podium in third place, with a score of 4738. The placement tied the Rebels' best-ever finish, having previously placed third in 2021.
Kentucky and Nebraska finished tied with a score of 4736, however the Wildcats won fourth place due to their number of center shots being higher, leaving the Cornhuskers in fifth. Navy finished sixth with a score of 4722, Georgia Southern in seventh with 4717, and Alaska finished eighth with 4714. + Team final results Place Team Smallbore aggregate Air rifle aggregate Total aggregate Centers West Virginia 2353 2395 4748 355 TCU 2354 2387 4741 354 Ole Miss 2356 2382 4738 339 4 Kentucky 2353 2383 4736 328 5 Nebraska 2354 2382 4736 318 6 Navy 2346 2376 4722 310 7 Georgia Southern 2338 2379 4717 320 8 Alaska 2334 2380 4714 309
In the individual competition, Griffin Lake of West Virginia was named the Most Outstanding Performer of the championship, with an aggregate score of 1194 (595 in smallbore and 599 in air rifle).
+ Individual shooter final results Place Athlete Team Smallbore aggregate Air rifle aggregate Total aggregate Centers Griffin Lake West Virginia 595 599 1194 101 Audrey Gogniat Ole Miss 592 600 1192 95 Katie Zaun TCU 593 598 1191 103 4 Océanne Muller West Virginia 592 599 1191 92 5 Elizabeth Probst Kentucky 592 598 1190 89 6 Braden Peiser Kentucky 596 594 1190 86 7 Tyler Wee Navy 591 598 1189 83 8 Katlyn Sullivan Nebraska 589 599 1188 90 9 Mikole Hogan TCU 590 598 1188 86 10 Gracie Dinh Ole Miss 593 594 1187 87 11 Lucie Kissenberger Alaska 588 598 1186 84 12 Emma Rhode Nebraska 591 595 1186 82 13 Parker Haydin Navy 590 595 1185 85 14 Bremen Butler Georgia Southern 588 596 1184 81 15 Maddy Moyer Nebraska 589 595 1184 79 16 Regan Diamond Ole Miss 588 594 1182 80 17 Rylie Passmore TCU 585 596 1181 85 18 Isabella Baldwin Navy 585 596 1181 81 19 Christina Hillinger TCU 586 595 1181 79 20 Emme Walrath Georgia Southern 587 593 1180 85 Jennifer Kocher West Virginia 581 599 22 Sofia Ceccarello Kentucky 583 597 1180 83 23 Marissa Fedora TCU 585 595 1180 82 24 Noah Meierotto Alaska 582 597 1179 80 25 Lauri Syrja West Virginia 585 594 1179 79 26 Tori Watts Georgia Southern 580 598 1178 75 27 Camryn Camp West Virginia 580 598 1178 68 28 Jordan de Jesus Ole Miss 583 594 1177 77 29 Carley Seabrooke Nebraska 585 592 1177 72 30 Teagan Perkowski Alaska 583 593 1176 75 31 Sam Adkins Kentucky 582 594 1176 70 32 Emma Pohlmann Georgia Southern 583 592 1175 79 33 Alivia Perkins Nebraska 574 593 1167 66 34 Ryan Wee Navy 580 587 1167 61 35 Zahra Gonzalez Mazo Georgia Southern 579 587 1166 53 36 Susan Carter Ole Miss 580 584 1164 61 37 Tobias Bernhoft-Osa Alaska 570 592 1162 64 38 Martin Voss Kentucky 572 586 1158 61 39 Catherine Dely Navy 563 575 1138 51 Kameron Wells UTEP 597 597 51 Caroline Martin Murray State 597 597 47 Lily Wytko Air Force 595 595 48 Lea Soulé Murray State 589 589 39 Lily Miller Air Force 588 588 38 Carlotta Salafia Murray State 586 586 31 Katrina Demerle Memphis 583 583 32 Addison Antwiler Army 582 582 31 Marshall Schmidt Alaska 581 581 26
References
External links Official scorecard at NCAA.com