Ole Miss rifle has qualified for the NCAA Rifle Championship for the fourth year in a row, earning the sixth seed.
The Rebels qualified for the 2023 NCAA Rifle Championships after shooting 4715, their best of the spring, in their qualification match against Memphis. Ole Miss finished with a total score of 9439.67 in the NCAA standings. The squad will fight on the highest platform in their sport, seeking to win the national championship, on March 8-9 at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia.
During the season, Ole Miss faced three of the eight teams competing in the title game. The Rebels lost to the number one seed, West Virginia, and the fourth seed, Kentucky, but they overcame the seventh seed, Navy, in the
The Rebels are 7-6 overall and 2-4 in the GARC as they prepare for the conference title. Ole Miss rifle averaged 4700 or higher in ten matches, including a 4730 versus No. 1 West Virginia. The team also achieved three of the program’s top ten all-time smallbore scores and another top ten score in air rifle.
Senior Lea Horvath has attended the NCAA Championships every year since entering the program. Horvath is an eight-time First Team All-American and the leader in average aggregate scoring. The Kamarom, Hungary native finished fifth in smallbore at the 2023 NCAA Rifle Championships. Emma Pereira, a sophomore at Ole Miss, leads the team in smallbore with an average of 584.8. Pereira aims to improve upon her seventh-place smallbore finish.
Kristen Derting, in her fifth and last season as a Rebel, has established herself as a two-time First Team All-American. Derting is poised to make the ultimate impact by leading Ole Miss to their first NCAA championship. Derting averages the highest score per match in air rifle, 593.3. Regan Diamond was an excellent addition to a championship-level team, stepping up as a freshman and countering in all but one match in air rifle. Diamond excelled in the most important moments of the season. In a match against No. 1 West Virginia, the rookie shot a career-best 595 in high and then repeated the feat twice more. During the NCAA qualifier, Diamond fired her first 590 in smallbore
The entire field of eight is given below.
1. West Virginia.
2. TCU
3. Air Force.
4. Kentucky
5. Alaska FaiBanks
6. Ole Miss 7. Navy.
8. Nebraska
