The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
NCAA Rifle Championships - Smallbore
Rifle Wins Team Smallbore, Leads Field After Day One of NCAA Tournament
3/13/2026 | Rifle
COLUMBUS, Ohio – For the first time in program history, Ole Miss’ fifth-ranked rifle team claimed team gold in the smallbore event at the NCAA Tournament in Columbus, Ohio, Friday afternoon.
It’s the first time the Rebels (10-2, 5-2 PRC) finished first in either event at the national tournament. By winning the gold in smallbore, Ole Miss has finished in each spot of the podium since 2021, finishing second in 2022-23 and third in 2020-21. First-year head coach Will Shaner has done what no Ole Miss rifle coach has done by getting the Rebels over the hump.
For the first time in program history, the Rebels are the NCAA Champs in Smallbore! ??#HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/x6telb2zA1
— Ole Miss Rifle (@OleMissRifle) March 13, 2026
Ole Miss scored a 2356 in the event to earn the team title. It bested TCU and Nebraska by two points, giving the Rebels a small margin for error in tomorrow’s air rifle competition. With the aggregate lead going into day two, Ole Miss has one of its best shots at winning the overall trophy in program history.
Gracie Dinh and Audrey Gogniat led the way for the Rebels, scoring 593 and 592, respectively, both earning a spot in the final round of individual action. Ole Miss was one of three programs to have a pair of athletes competing in the final round of competition, as well as two athletes with scores north of 590.
Gogniat finished second overall behind Kentucky’s Braden Peiser, who has won the smallbore individual title in back-to-back years. Gogniat is the first Rebel to ever medal in smallbore at the national tournament, as she’s now collected two in her career as only a sophomore. Dinh finished eighth, marking the highest placement of her collegiate career.
The highest smallbore finish at the NCAA Tournament by any Rebel ??
— Ole Miss Rifle (@OleMissRifle) March 13, 2026
Congrats on your silver medal, Audrey! pic.twitter.com/jTdMoWA3zc
Gogniat, Regan Diamond and Susan Carter opened the day’s festivities in the first relay. Gogniat paced the way through kneeling and prone, missing only two combined shots through 40 attempts. In doing so, she had a perfect prone score.
In standing, Gogniat faltered but still scored a solid 592 in the event. Diamond was on track for a personal record when she reached the standing position but settled for a 588. Her tally was the third best by a Rebel for the day.
Dinh stole the show in the second relay with a 593 performance. She did one better than Gogniat by having a 399 through 40 shots, missing a bullseye only once. She finished the day with a 593 in the event to punch her ticket to the individual medal round. Her score was tied for the third best of the entire field for the day in the 60-shot round.
Jordan de Jesus would finish with a 583, securing Ole Miss’ top spot in the standings after day one.
In the final individual round, both Gogniat and Dinh got off to hot starts to build their points. The pair looked solid through kneeling and prone, as they did in the qualifying rounds. The standing position once again struck as Dinh was the first competitor out of the medal round on the 41st shot.
However, Gogniat kept her momentum. She built her points up to surpass the round’s longstanding leader, Kentucky’s Elizabeth Probst, as well as West Virginia’s top shooter Griffin Lake. She outlasted Probst to earn a spot on the podium, then shot a 10.7 to beat Lake for at least a silver, which she earned in the following shot.
Ole Miss is back in action with the air rifle event tomorrow with sighters set to start at 8 a.m. CT.
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