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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Saturday, January 18
Fairbanks, Alaska
11 a.m.
Ole Miss
at
Alaska Fairbanks
Rifle Opens Spring Season with a Multi-Meet Weekend in Alaska
1/17/2025 | Rifle
FAIRBANKS, Alaska – No. 9 Ole Miss rifle travels to the Last Frontier for a three-team tournament against Alaska-Fairbanks, Akron and Army on Jan. 18 to open the second half of the season, followed by another two-team tournament against the latter two teams on Jan. 19.
The match will start at 11 a.m. CT and will take place at the Tanana Valley Sportsman's Association complex. The Rebels travel to Alaska for the first time since the 2021-22 season.
On the Line
2024 Fall Season in Review
The Rebels went 4-3 overall and 1-1 in conference matches at the conclusion of the 2024 fall slate. The Rebels are ranked No. 9 by the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association and have competed against four, top-10 programs.
Ole Miss is in familiar territory, having capped last season's fall campaign with the same record. The Rebels went on to go 7-6 and placed seventh in the national tournament.
Head coach Rachel Martin has led the Rebels to several impressive feats to start this season, leaning on one of the strongest freshmen signing classes in program history and an all-time Rebel in Lea Horvath.
Head Coach Rachel Martin
Scouting the Opponents
Alaska-Fairbanks
Will Anti leads Alaska-Fairbanks in his fourth season at the helm. He guided the Nanooks to an NCAA title in 2023, their 11th in program history. Anti and the Nanooks are 5-1 entering the spring season and are the top-ranked team in the PRC.
Alaska Fairbanks has put together a formidable team that boasts six players averaging 1180 or better in aggregate scoring. Graduate Cecelia Ossi and senior Sára Karasová pace the team with 1185.0 and 1184.3 averages, respectively. The Nanooks are No. 1 in the nation, averaging 4739.7 scores per match, while also shooting the highest air rifle average with 2386.2.
Karasová, Elli Spencer and Rachael Charles were named CRCA All-Americans last season. Spencer fired a perfect 600 in air rifle in the NCAA tournament to earn her accolade. The sophomore is averaging 596.3 in air rifle so far this season, while Charles holds the third-highest aggregate on the team with 1183.3.
Akron
The Zips enter Friday's competition ranked 13th by the CRCA and are 8-7 to start the spring campaign. Newt Engle leads the Zips in his 47th season, making him the longest-tenured coach in Akron history. Akron's roster is full of experience, featuring 10 upperclassmen and a trio of fifth-year seniors. Akron's Gavin Perkowski is the team's only returning All-American, after earning First Team status in air rifle and Honorable Mention in the aggregate.
Perkowski heads the charge for the Zips, averaging an 1179.6 aggregate score. He easily leads the team in air rifle, posting 594.8 points per appearance. He's only outdone in smallbore by Erin Schnupp, who averages 585.9. Akron's best performance of the season came against No. 1 Kentucky, No. 8 Air Force and Schreiner, when it fired 4728 in a four-team tournament.
Army
Leighton Dempster has been with the Army program since 2019 and assumed the head coaching role in 2022. Army is 2-6 entering the weekend, with all six of its losses coming consecutively. The Black Knights best showing of the season was against Georgia Southern, when they pulled out 4710 points in a loss.
Briggs Moore is the leader for Army, posting an 1167.1 aggregate average and a team-leading 579.4 smallbore. For air rifle, the Black Knights lean on Addison Antwiler, who is the only athlete averaging north of 590 in the event this season.
Last Time Against the…
Nanooks
Alaska Fairbanks claimed two victories in two days against Ole Miss. Lea Horvath tied the then-program record 1190 aggregate score in the second match against the Nanooks. Horvath and Jillian Zakrzeski were the leaders for the Rebels that weekend, both posting the top two scores in smallbore for Ole Miss. The Nanooks, ranked No. 1 in the country, nearly allowed a comeback in the first matchup that weekend, but narrowly escaped with a 4721-4719 victory.
Zips
Ole Miss opened its 2024-25 season against Akron. The Rebels outshot the Zips in smallbore and air rifle, easily claiming the match victory, 4702-4694. Lea Horvath and Gracie Dinh had the highest scores among all shooters for the day. Dinh led the field in smallbore, scoring 590. Four Rebels scored at least 586 in the event.
Black Knights
Ole Miss required a seven-point comeback in air rifle to secure a victory against Army but did so and more to pull out the team's fourth-straight series victory. Kristen Derting fired a career-high 598 in air rifle as the Rebels outscored the Black Knights by 14 points in the event to pull off a victory.
Rebs in the Rankings
The Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association ranked Ole Miss the No. 9 team in the country.
Four members of the PRC join Ole Miss inside the top 10: No. 2 Alaska Fairbanks, No. 4 TCU, No. 6 Air Force and No. 10 Nebraska. Ohio State and UTEP find themselves ranked No. 12 and No. 15.
Legendary Lea
Senior Lea Horvath elected to return to Ole Miss for her fifth and final year of competition, a decision Rebels fans are celebrating. In her four seasons as a Rebel, Horvath has personally rewritten the Ole Miss record books. Horvath is a 10-time All-American, becoming the first Rebel in program history to reach double digits. A staggering eight of her 10 selections were on the first team.
Her most recent accomplishment was historic, as she fired a perfect 600 in air rifle against Murray State. It's the fourth time she's accomplished this feat and tied Alaska Faribanks' Rylan Kissell for the most in NCAA history in the process.
She also tied her own program record in smallbore (594) and aggregate (1194) against Murray State. She became the first woman in NCAA rifle history to shoot a 600 in air rifle in three separate instances from 2020-22.
Passing The Torch
Gracie Dinh has had an impressive start to her collegiate career thus far. Her performances have drawn comparisons to her teammate, Lea Horvath, and what she accomplished as a freshman in 2020-21.
That season, Horvath led the team in all three categories of shooting. This year, Dinh trails only Horvath in air rifle and aggregate scoring, showing that if Horvath elected not to take her fifth year of competition, Dinh would be doing the same thing. Against Navy and Nebraska, Dinh fired a 597 in air rifle, becoming the first Ole Miss freshman since Horvath to record that high of a score.
Horvath has continued to remind the collegiate rifle world of her status as one of the best to toe the line. She shot her fourth career perfect air rifle score against Murray State earlier in the year becoming only the second collegiate shooter to do so four times. She has the sixth-highest air rifle average in the country with 597 and has never dipped below 595 this season.
The Rebels will be left in good hands once the 10-time All-American graduates with a master's degree in business administration.
Fantastic Freshmen
A large part of Ole Miss' success to start this season has come off the back of its 2024 freshmen class. Five freshmen have countered in at least one event this season, as three have established themselves into the starting rotation.
Gracie Dinh, Jordan de Jesus and Susan Carter have proven to be capable competitors in the arena. Dinh is off to the strongest start of the three, leading the team with the highest smallbore average (588.8) and the second-highest aggregate average (1181.6) on the team.
She's coming off her two strongest performances this season, recording career highs in aggregate scoring in back-to-back weeks. She's had the highest aggregate score for the Rebels in the last three matches.
De Jesus is right behind Dinh in scoring, averaging 1174.9 in aggregate and 592.8 in air rifle. She's fired a 596 in air rifle twice this season and is tied with Dinh for the second-highest average on the team.
Carter claimed her spot in the starting lineup in the back half of the fall season. As a counter, Carter has averaged 587.3 in air rifle and provides plenty of depth in the lineup.
Claudia Muzik and Kayla Riewe have also earned starting nods this season, both performing their best in air rifle. Muzik came out swinging in her first outing, firing 590 against Akron in the event. In Riewe's first appearance as a counter, she fired a 586 in air rifle.
Smallbore Savages
Ole Miss has historically performed well in smallbore, both individually and as a group. The Rebels had an all-time performance in the second match of the season against Murray State. Ole Miss' 2358 serves as the third-best team score in program history, while Lea Horvath tied her own program individual record with 597.
The Rebels have the seventh-best team average in the event thus far and third in the PRC.
Much of Ole Miss' success in smallbore has come in the prone position. The Rebels have strung together eight instances of firing a 200 in prone. De Jesus and Emma Pereira have accomplished a perfect prone score three times each, while Carter has done it twice.
In the first match of the new year, senior M'Leah Lambdin fired a 599 out of the gate in the kneeling position. Her accomplishment tied a school record for the best score in smallbore's first position.
Rebs Roll Deep
Ole Miss' depth pieces have come into their own at the midway mark of the season. Veterans M'Leah Lambdin, Emma Pereira and Regan Diamond have contributed valuable depth to the Rebels' lineup.
Lambdin has earned a counter spot in all but two events this season and has reached the podium for smallbore, air rifle and individual aggregate scoring at least once each this season. She's seen steady improvement in both smallbore and air rifle and has come within two points of firing career best marks in both events in the last two competitions.
Diamond is just behind the trio of Horvath, Dinh and de Jesus in air rifle, averaging the fourth-most on the team at 590. She's had a season-high 594 twice so far this season, including in the last outing against Kentucky.
Pereira has the third-highest aggregate average among Ole Miss returners thus far in the season. An All-American last season, Pereira has appeared in all five of Ole Miss' competitions this season and has fired three perfect scores in the prone position for smallbore this year.
Rebs on Socials
For more information on Ole Miss rifle, follow the Rebels on Facebook (OleMissRifle), Twitter (@OleMissRifle), Instagram (@OleMissRifle) and at OleMissSports.com.
The match will start at 11 a.m. CT and will take place at the Tanana Valley Sportsman's Association complex. The Rebels travel to Alaska for the first time since the 2021-22 season.
On the Line
- Ole Miss is 4-3 entering spring competition.
- There are five total victories up for grabs this weekend. Wins are determined by placement in the tournament – a first-place finish is three wins, a second-place finish is two wins, third is one win, and fourth is no wins.
- Ole Miss faces No. 2 Alaska-Fairbanks for the first time as PRC rivals. The Nanooks came away with two victories in their last head-to-head matchup on Jan. 15 and Jan. 16, 2022.
- The Rebels last defeated the Nanooks on Nov. 17, 2020, in tiebreaking fashion. Ole Miss outshot Alaska with 309 center shots against 284.
- Ole Miss defeated No. 13 Akron in the 2024-25 season opener, 4702-4694. Lea Horvath claimed the top individual aggregate spot after posting a 598 in air rifle, while Gracie Dinh secured her first No. 1 finish in smallbore with a 590.
- Opposite Alaska, Ole Miss goes against No. 16 Army for the first time as a nonconference rival. The Rebels have won the last four matchups against the Black Knights.
- Horvath leads the Rebels in aggregate and air rifle averages, boasting 1183.4 and 597 per appearance, respectively. Dinh paces the team in smallbore scoring, putting up 588.8 per appearance.
- The Rebels have the eighth-highest aggregate team score average in the NCAA and sit fourth in the PRC with 4706.7 in six matches.
- Ole Miss also boasts the third-largest smallbore average in the PRC this season, with 2339.5.
- Last time out, Ole Miss secured a come-from-behind victory against then No. 9 Ohio State. Facing a deficit after smallbore, the Rebels rattled off 2367 in air rifle to narrowly edge the Buckeyes, 4711-4708.
- Dinh swept the board against the Buckeyes, claiming the No. 1 spot in smallbore, air rifle and aggregate scoring. She scored a career best 1184 aggregate, which was tops for the day by four points.
- Horvath, the 10-time All-American, fired a perfect 600 in air rifle against Murray State this season, the fourth time in her career. She distanced herself in the record books by becoming the only woman in NCAA history to shoot 600 four times.
- Horvath ranks top five in the NCAA in air rifle scoring entering the match.
- M'Leah Lambdin has developed into a staple of consistency for the Rebels. The senior has posted top three individual performances in smallbore, air rifle and the aggregate at least once in the last two matches.
- So far this season, five freshmen have countered for the Rebels.
- The Rebels' roster features seven returning athletes, including two All-Americans and three counters from the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
- Ole Miss is the newest member of the seven-team Patriot Rifle Conference.
- The 13-member roster is the largest in program history.
- Ole Miss rifle is ranked No. 9, according to the CRCA.
2024 Fall Season in Review
The Rebels went 4-3 overall and 1-1 in conference matches at the conclusion of the 2024 fall slate. The Rebels are ranked No. 9 by the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association and have competed against four, top-10 programs.
Ole Miss is in familiar territory, having capped last season's fall campaign with the same record. The Rebels went on to go 7-6 and placed seventh in the national tournament.
Head coach Rachel Martin has led the Rebels to several impressive feats to start this season, leaning on one of the strongest freshmen signing classes in program history and an all-time Rebel in Lea Horvath.
Head Coach Rachel Martin
- This year marks her second season as the Rebels head coach, after being promoted following one season as assistant coach.
- Martin also has two previous years of head coaching experience at Nebraska, guiding them to the NCAA Championships in both seasons.
- Martin has coached five total All-Americans, including two at Ole Miss.
- A former collegiate shooter, she competed with Nebraska from 2014-17.
- Martin was an NCAA Individual Smallbore Champion in 2015.
- Martin earned her 10th win as the Rebels head coach against Jacksonville State.
- She guided the Rebels to post the third-greatest smallbore score in program history against Murray State this season. Ole Miss shot 2358.
Scouting the Opponents
Alaska-Fairbanks
Will Anti leads Alaska-Fairbanks in his fourth season at the helm. He guided the Nanooks to an NCAA title in 2023, their 11th in program history. Anti and the Nanooks are 5-1 entering the spring season and are the top-ranked team in the PRC.
Alaska Fairbanks has put together a formidable team that boasts six players averaging 1180 or better in aggregate scoring. Graduate Cecelia Ossi and senior Sára Karasová pace the team with 1185.0 and 1184.3 averages, respectively. The Nanooks are No. 1 in the nation, averaging 4739.7 scores per match, while also shooting the highest air rifle average with 2386.2.
Karasová, Elli Spencer and Rachael Charles were named CRCA All-Americans last season. Spencer fired a perfect 600 in air rifle in the NCAA tournament to earn her accolade. The sophomore is averaging 596.3 in air rifle so far this season, while Charles holds the third-highest aggregate on the team with 1183.3.
Akron
The Zips enter Friday's competition ranked 13th by the CRCA and are 8-7 to start the spring campaign. Newt Engle leads the Zips in his 47th season, making him the longest-tenured coach in Akron history. Akron's roster is full of experience, featuring 10 upperclassmen and a trio of fifth-year seniors. Akron's Gavin Perkowski is the team's only returning All-American, after earning First Team status in air rifle and Honorable Mention in the aggregate.
Perkowski heads the charge for the Zips, averaging an 1179.6 aggregate score. He easily leads the team in air rifle, posting 594.8 points per appearance. He's only outdone in smallbore by Erin Schnupp, who averages 585.9. Akron's best performance of the season came against No. 1 Kentucky, No. 8 Air Force and Schreiner, when it fired 4728 in a four-team tournament.
Army
Leighton Dempster has been with the Army program since 2019 and assumed the head coaching role in 2022. Army is 2-6 entering the weekend, with all six of its losses coming consecutively. The Black Knights best showing of the season was against Georgia Southern, when they pulled out 4710 points in a loss.
Briggs Moore is the leader for Army, posting an 1167.1 aggregate average and a team-leading 579.4 smallbore. For air rifle, the Black Knights lean on Addison Antwiler, who is the only athlete averaging north of 590 in the event this season.
Last Time Against the…
Nanooks
Alaska Fairbanks claimed two victories in two days against Ole Miss. Lea Horvath tied the then-program record 1190 aggregate score in the second match against the Nanooks. Horvath and Jillian Zakrzeski were the leaders for the Rebels that weekend, both posting the top two scores in smallbore for Ole Miss. The Nanooks, ranked No. 1 in the country, nearly allowed a comeback in the first matchup that weekend, but narrowly escaped with a 4721-4719 victory.
Zips
Ole Miss opened its 2024-25 season against Akron. The Rebels outshot the Zips in smallbore and air rifle, easily claiming the match victory, 4702-4694. Lea Horvath and Gracie Dinh had the highest scores among all shooters for the day. Dinh led the field in smallbore, scoring 590. Four Rebels scored at least 586 in the event.
Black Knights
Ole Miss required a seven-point comeback in air rifle to secure a victory against Army but did so and more to pull out the team's fourth-straight series victory. Kristen Derting fired a career-high 598 in air rifle as the Rebels outscored the Black Knights by 14 points in the event to pull off a victory.
Rebs in the Rankings
The Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association ranked Ole Miss the No. 9 team in the country.
Four members of the PRC join Ole Miss inside the top 10: No. 2 Alaska Fairbanks, No. 4 TCU, No. 6 Air Force and No. 10 Nebraska. Ohio State and UTEP find themselves ranked No. 12 and No. 15.
Legendary Lea
Senior Lea Horvath elected to return to Ole Miss for her fifth and final year of competition, a decision Rebels fans are celebrating. In her four seasons as a Rebel, Horvath has personally rewritten the Ole Miss record books. Horvath is a 10-time All-American, becoming the first Rebel in program history to reach double digits. A staggering eight of her 10 selections were on the first team.
Her most recent accomplishment was historic, as she fired a perfect 600 in air rifle against Murray State. It's the fourth time she's accomplished this feat and tied Alaska Faribanks' Rylan Kissell for the most in NCAA history in the process.
She also tied her own program record in smallbore (594) and aggregate (1194) against Murray State. She became the first woman in NCAA rifle history to shoot a 600 in air rifle in three separate instances from 2020-22.
Passing The Torch
Gracie Dinh has had an impressive start to her collegiate career thus far. Her performances have drawn comparisons to her teammate, Lea Horvath, and what she accomplished as a freshman in 2020-21.
That season, Horvath led the team in all three categories of shooting. This year, Dinh trails only Horvath in air rifle and aggregate scoring, showing that if Horvath elected not to take her fifth year of competition, Dinh would be doing the same thing. Against Navy and Nebraska, Dinh fired a 597 in air rifle, becoming the first Ole Miss freshman since Horvath to record that high of a score.
Horvath has continued to remind the collegiate rifle world of her status as one of the best to toe the line. She shot her fourth career perfect air rifle score against Murray State earlier in the year becoming only the second collegiate shooter to do so four times. She has the sixth-highest air rifle average in the country with 597 and has never dipped below 595 this season.
The Rebels will be left in good hands once the 10-time All-American graduates with a master's degree in business administration.
Fantastic Freshmen
A large part of Ole Miss' success to start this season has come off the back of its 2024 freshmen class. Five freshmen have countered in at least one event this season, as three have established themselves into the starting rotation.
Gracie Dinh, Jordan de Jesus and Susan Carter have proven to be capable competitors in the arena. Dinh is off to the strongest start of the three, leading the team with the highest smallbore average (588.8) and the second-highest aggregate average (1181.6) on the team.
She's coming off her two strongest performances this season, recording career highs in aggregate scoring in back-to-back weeks. She's had the highest aggregate score for the Rebels in the last three matches.
De Jesus is right behind Dinh in scoring, averaging 1174.9 in aggregate and 592.8 in air rifle. She's fired a 596 in air rifle twice this season and is tied with Dinh for the second-highest average on the team.
Carter claimed her spot in the starting lineup in the back half of the fall season. As a counter, Carter has averaged 587.3 in air rifle and provides plenty of depth in the lineup.
Claudia Muzik and Kayla Riewe have also earned starting nods this season, both performing their best in air rifle. Muzik came out swinging in her first outing, firing 590 against Akron in the event. In Riewe's first appearance as a counter, she fired a 586 in air rifle.
Smallbore Savages
Ole Miss has historically performed well in smallbore, both individually and as a group. The Rebels had an all-time performance in the second match of the season against Murray State. Ole Miss' 2358 serves as the third-best team score in program history, while Lea Horvath tied her own program individual record with 597.
The Rebels have the seventh-best team average in the event thus far and third in the PRC.
Much of Ole Miss' success in smallbore has come in the prone position. The Rebels have strung together eight instances of firing a 200 in prone. De Jesus and Emma Pereira have accomplished a perfect prone score three times each, while Carter has done it twice.
In the first match of the new year, senior M'Leah Lambdin fired a 599 out of the gate in the kneeling position. Her accomplishment tied a school record for the best score in smallbore's first position.
Rebs Roll Deep
Ole Miss' depth pieces have come into their own at the midway mark of the season. Veterans M'Leah Lambdin, Emma Pereira and Regan Diamond have contributed valuable depth to the Rebels' lineup.
Lambdin has earned a counter spot in all but two events this season and has reached the podium for smallbore, air rifle and individual aggregate scoring at least once each this season. She's seen steady improvement in both smallbore and air rifle and has come within two points of firing career best marks in both events in the last two competitions.
Diamond is just behind the trio of Horvath, Dinh and de Jesus in air rifle, averaging the fourth-most on the team at 590. She's had a season-high 594 twice so far this season, including in the last outing against Kentucky.
Pereira has the third-highest aggregate average among Ole Miss returners thus far in the season. An All-American last season, Pereira has appeared in all five of Ole Miss' competitions this season and has fired three perfect scores in the prone position for smallbore this year.
Rebs on Socials
For more information on Ole Miss rifle, follow the Rebels on Facebook (OleMissRifle), Twitter (@OleMissRifle), Instagram (@OleMissRifle) and at OleMissSports.com.
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