No. 5 Ole Miss rifle to open season against Ohio State, UT Martin
The No. 5 Ole Miss rifle team will open the 2026-27 season Saturday by hosting No. 14 Ohio State and No. 18 UT Martin at 8 a.m. CT at the Ole Miss Rifle Center in Oxford.
Ole Miss returns back-to-back NCAA air rifle champion Audrey Gogniat and All-American Gracie Dinh. Gogniat defended her national air rifle title last season with a 251 in the NCAA Championship final, becoming the first NCAA athlete to repeat as air rifle champion since 2012 and 2013.
The Rebels added freshmen Avana Harford and Kamdyn McFarland and hired Sara Karasova as an assistant coach. Karasova spent the 2025-26 season as Memphis' graduate assistant coach. She previously competed at Alaska Fairbanks, graduating in 2025 with 12 All-America honors and helping the Nanooks win the 2023 NCAA team championship.
Ole Miss is seeking its seventh consecutive NCAA Championship appearance after a 10-2 season in 2025-26. Under head coach Will Shaner, the Rebels won the national smallbore title and finished third overall.
Ohio State, coached by Ryan Tanoue, returns sophomore Mackenzie Pruden and junior Gabriella Sprague. The Buckeyes lost to Ole Miss 4721-4697 in Oxford last season.
UT Martin is led by Alayna Walther, a former Skyhawks athlete, in her second season as head coach. Junior Sophia Ashford and sophomore Olivia Harvey are among the team's key returners, while UT Martin must replace graduate Joey Kovach. Saturday's meet will be the first between Ole Miss and UT Martin since the 2022-23 season.
Source: Ole Miss Athletics.
