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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Montana to Mississippi
10/2/2014 | Rifle
By Kim Ling,
Associate Athletics Media Relations Director
A gun safety class led sophomore Alison Weisz on a path that ultimately took her out of her small hometown of Belgrade, Mont., to small-town Oxford, Miss., as a member of the Ole Miss rifle team.
While other kids in her elementary school were beginning to choose sports to play, Weisz figured it was time to find her outlet.
"One day when I was waiting for my parents to pick me up, I noticed a flyer hanging up in the office about gun safety," Weisz said. "I was a really big tomboy, because my parents ran a stock car dirt track. I grabbed one of the flyers and showed it to my parents. Growing up in Montana they knew I would be around guns as I got older, and they wanted me to be aware of the safety issues and how to use one, so my mom signed me up."
The class was in the basement of a sporting goods/hunting store. Weisz took to it like duck to water.
"They split us into two different classes. They had little targets on cardboard boxes. We used little BB guns (Daisy 499 Spring Air). They showed us how to hold it and how to aim. I had never held a gun before, besides those virtual ones at a fair that you shoot at a screen. I started shooting, and my old coach (Chris Winstead), who is a mentor to me, came up to me and called me little `Annie Oakley.'"
For those not old enough to remember Annie Oakley, she was an American sharpshooter whose talent led to a starring role in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show.
While some of her friends were out doing other sports, Weisz was down in the basement of the sporting goods store honing her craft.
After mastering the BB gun, Weisz went on to a precision air rifle at 11 years old, which is not the normal path one would take.
"Usually people go from BB gun to sporter air rifle and then to precision air rifle," Weisz said. "I was a small girl, and sporter air rifles tend to be heavy, and he didn't want me to start to dislike it because it was so heavy. Therefore he had me skip sporter air rifle completely and started me with a precision air rifle."
Living in a small town, Weisz said there were few opportunities in rifle in her area, but she competed as part of a club team while in high school.
"We had a club team. I would practice with all of them or by myself in the basement of that sporting goods store. I kept working my way up and then we found out about different matches and we would travel to those and as many national matches as we could. I would shoot in qualification matches to try and get to the bigger ones."
Weisz says there were a few matches around the state of Montana, but most of the big ones, were out of state. She traveled to 3-P, CMP Nationals and NRA Nationals. Those were either in Ohio or Alabama. Junior Olympics were always in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Weisz said she never really gave the idea of shooting in college and the entire recruiting process much thought until she was at a competition in Alabama where former Ole Miss assistant coach Natasha Dinsmore noticed her.
"I was in Anniston, Ala., for one of my CMP-NRA crossover matches. I was there for air rifle," Weisz said. "Coach Dinsmore was there, and my mom talked to her while I was shooting. Afterwards she came up to me and introduced herself and gave me her card. At the time I had not started my recruiting process. After she talked to me, I did a little more research on schools and then came on my official visit here. I fell in love with it like most people do. I loved everything about it, the campus, the team, the coaches, the atmosphere, the range, The Grove, everything."
A lot of freshmen when they get to college have an adjustment period, but Weisz didn't need long to become a fixture on a senior-laden squad. She led the team in air rifle and achieved a lot of firsts for the program.
Weisz became the first freshman to earn all-conference honors, as she was named GARC Second Team in air rifle. She also became the first freshman to qualify for the NCAA Championships, earning a spot in air rifle.
"Honestly, I had no idea that we had never had a freshman earn all-conference honors or qualify for the NCAA Championships," Weisz said. "I just came down here wanting to do my best and wanting to prove that I belonged on this team. I loved it and just wanted to help the team. I wanted to go to NCAAs, but part of me thought `it's ok if I don't, because I am just a freshman.'"
After experiencing a lot of highs with a senior team, Weisz finds herself as an elder statesman while only a sophomore. She is one of three sophomores along with five freshmen.
"It's different, because I still feel like I am learning just as much as they are. I only have a year under my belt. I don't know everything, I don't know all the ins and outs like the seniors did last year. But I also think it's really good. We work together so much better, because we are all still learning together."
After an excellent freshman campaign, Weisz has not allowed herself to get too far ahead as far as expectations for an encore. She just wants to keep improving and see where it takes her. One area she would like to improve is her smallbore.
"I've been doing a lot of training in smallbore, especially with scat training, which is our computer system. It's basically a laser that tracks every single movement your barrel makes. I've been working on all of my positions, kneeling, standing and prone to try and get a feel for what I am capable of shooting. It's a big mental game for me now."
Players Mentioned
