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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Will Shaner Tapped as Rifle Head Coach
5/23/2025 | Rifle
OXFORD, Miss. – An Olympic gold medalist and successful assistant coach for the Ole Miss rifle team, Will Shaner has been promoted to become the Rebels' fourth head coach, Vice Chancellor of Intercollegiate Athletics Keith Carter announced on Thursday.
"Our rifle program has built tremendous momentum, and we're excited to continue that upward trajectory under Will's leadership," Carter said. "His credentials at such a young age are truly remarkable, and his impact on our team the last two years is evident. This is a championship caliber program, and we look forward to reaching the next level with Will at the helm."
Shaner helped the Rebels advance to the NCAA Championships in both of his seasons as assistant coach. In his second year, he assisted the team to its first 10-win season since 2021-22 and finished with an individual national title, a team runner-up finish in the NCAA's air rifle competition and silver medals in the PRC smallbore and aggregate placement.
"Being part of Ole Miss Rifle the past two years has been the most rewarding experience of my career," Shaner said. "I am honored to lead this group as head coach and continue the culture of excellence and trust we've built here. I'm excited to get back to work and see what the future has in store for this program."
Shaner helped the Rebels reach new heights in 2024-25, headlined by the emergence of budding star Audrey Gogniat. She became Ole Miss Rifle's first individual national champion in program history after firing a perfect 600 in air rifle at the 2025 NCAA Championships.
In his first season as an assistant, Shaner helped the Rebels reach their fourth consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships and third straight podium finish in the GARC Championships. He assisted individual competitors Lea Horvath and Kristen Derting to All-GARC teams, as well as Horvath and Emma Pereira to CRCA All-America status.
Shaner inherits a young team with mounds of potential. Alongside Gogniat, CRCA All-American Gracie Dinh is set to return to the Rebels, including a slew of other talented second-year student-athletes in Susan Carter, Jordan de Jesus, Claudia Muzik and Kayla Riewe.
Shaner, 24, will be the youngest head coach in program history but has already garnered one of the most impressive athletic resumés in American rifle lore.
Shaner joined the Rebels in 2023 after a stellar five-year collegiate career at the University of Kentucky, where he guided the program to four national championship appearances and back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022. The 11-time first team All-American brought an elite shooting background to Oxford after having served as a member of the U.S. Junior National Team for five years before becoming a member of the U.S. National Team.
In his junior season, the Colorado Springs, Colorado, native took his talents to a new level, collegiately and internationally. Shaner finished as the NCAA Air Rifle runner-up to teammate Mary Tucker at the NCAA Championships. His 1184 combined score helped the Wildcats to their second national title in three seasons, excluding the shortened 2019-2020 season.
Shaner excelled in the summer at the National Junior Olympics, the ISSF World Cup and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, taking home gold medals at each event. In July of 2021, Shaner became the first American to win the gold medal in men's air rifle, cementing himself as the world's best male air rifle shooter and setting an Olympic record with a 251.6 in the finals. At the Junior Olympics, he won gold in smallbore and silver in air rifle. The next month, he fired a 250.5 at the ISSF World Cup in Croatia for the men's 10-meter air rifle gold medal.
Leading up to his gold medal performance as a freshman, Shaner saw rapid success each season. He continued to earn more accolades and break personal records each year. By Shaner's sophomore campaign, he fired the second-best smallbore score in the nation (594) and was one of two shooters in the country to surpass an aggregate score above 1190. Kentucky went on to win the GARC Championship, with Shaner taking home the gold medal in air rifle.
Coming off his Olympic victory, Shaner guided Kentucky to its second straight national title and was crowned the NCAA Smallbore Individual National Champion. He wrapped his collegiate career, finishing as the NCAA National Runner-Up in Smallbore with a silver medal and helped the Wildcats secure a third-place finish.
Shortly after finishing his collegiate shooting career, Shaner began coaching for Team Winning Solutions. As a coach, Shaner has been able to interact with athletes of varying abilities, foster positive growth relationships and develop plans for their competitive goals.
Rebs on Socials
For more information on Ole Miss rifle, follow the Rebels on Facebook (OleMissRifle), Twitter/X (@OleMissRifle), Instagram (@OleMissRifle) and at OleMissSports.com.
"Our rifle program has built tremendous momentum, and we're excited to continue that upward trajectory under Will's leadership," Carter said. "His credentials at such a young age are truly remarkable, and his impact on our team the last two years is evident. This is a championship caliber program, and we look forward to reaching the next level with Will at the helm."
Shaner helped the Rebels advance to the NCAA Championships in both of his seasons as assistant coach. In his second year, he assisted the team to its first 10-win season since 2021-22 and finished with an individual national title, a team runner-up finish in the NCAA's air rifle competition and silver medals in the PRC smallbore and aggregate placement.
"Being part of Ole Miss Rifle the past two years has been the most rewarding experience of my career," Shaner said. "I am honored to lead this group as head coach and continue the culture of excellence and trust we've built here. I'm excited to get back to work and see what the future has in store for this program."
Shaner helped the Rebels reach new heights in 2024-25, headlined by the emergence of budding star Audrey Gogniat. She became Ole Miss Rifle's first individual national champion in program history after firing a perfect 600 in air rifle at the 2025 NCAA Championships.
In his first season as an assistant, Shaner helped the Rebels reach their fourth consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships and third straight podium finish in the GARC Championships. He assisted individual competitors Lea Horvath and Kristen Derting to All-GARC teams, as well as Horvath and Emma Pereira to CRCA All-America status.
Shaner inherits a young team with mounds of potential. Alongside Gogniat, CRCA All-American Gracie Dinh is set to return to the Rebels, including a slew of other talented second-year student-athletes in Susan Carter, Jordan de Jesus, Claudia Muzik and Kayla Riewe.
Shaner, 24, will be the youngest head coach in program history but has already garnered one of the most impressive athletic resumés in American rifle lore.
Shaner joined the Rebels in 2023 after a stellar five-year collegiate career at the University of Kentucky, where he guided the program to four national championship appearances and back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022. The 11-time first team All-American brought an elite shooting background to Oxford after having served as a member of the U.S. Junior National Team for five years before becoming a member of the U.S. National Team.
In his junior season, the Colorado Springs, Colorado, native took his talents to a new level, collegiately and internationally. Shaner finished as the NCAA Air Rifle runner-up to teammate Mary Tucker at the NCAA Championships. His 1184 combined score helped the Wildcats to their second national title in three seasons, excluding the shortened 2019-2020 season.
Shaner excelled in the summer at the National Junior Olympics, the ISSF World Cup and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, taking home gold medals at each event. In July of 2021, Shaner became the first American to win the gold medal in men's air rifle, cementing himself as the world's best male air rifle shooter and setting an Olympic record with a 251.6 in the finals. At the Junior Olympics, he won gold in smallbore and silver in air rifle. The next month, he fired a 250.5 at the ISSF World Cup in Croatia for the men's 10-meter air rifle gold medal.
Leading up to his gold medal performance as a freshman, Shaner saw rapid success each season. He continued to earn more accolades and break personal records each year. By Shaner's sophomore campaign, he fired the second-best smallbore score in the nation (594) and was one of two shooters in the country to surpass an aggregate score above 1190. Kentucky went on to win the GARC Championship, with Shaner taking home the gold medal in air rifle.
Coming off his Olympic victory, Shaner guided Kentucky to its second straight national title and was crowned the NCAA Smallbore Individual National Champion. He wrapped his collegiate career, finishing as the NCAA National Runner-Up in Smallbore with a silver medal and helped the Wildcats secure a third-place finish.
Shortly after finishing his collegiate shooting career, Shaner began coaching for Team Winning Solutions. As a coach, Shaner has been able to interact with athletes of varying abilities, foster positive growth relationships and develop plans for their competitive goals.
Rebs on Socials
For more information on Ole Miss rifle, follow the Rebels on Facebook (OleMissRifle), Twitter/X (@OleMissRifle), Instagram (@OleMissRifle) and at OleMissSports.com.
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