The University of Mississippi Athletics

Rifle Alaska recap

Rifle Riding High After Historic Spring Season Openers

1/20/2025 | Rifle

OXFORD, Miss – Ole Miss rifle opened its spring season in record-breaking fashion, setting all-time high program marks in each event with stellar individual efforts across the board.

The Rebels headed over 10 hours northwest to take on Alaska-Fairbanks, Akron and Army in the Alaskan frontier to commence the spring schedule of 20245-25. While there, Ole Miss claimed four wins to only one loss in its weekend competition, boosting its record to 8-4 on the year.

Ole Mis swept former GARC rivals Army and Akron in both days of competition and fell two points shy of unseating the No. 2 team in the country in Alaska-Fairbanks. In their two days of competition, the Rebels put forth 4725 and 4740 aggregate scores, the latter of which set the second-highest mark in program history.

The shift in the Rebels’ high-scoring marks came from the emergence of freshman Audrey Gogniat, who made her collegiate debut this past weekend. Head coach Rachel Martin signed Gogniat as a late addition to the program in August, and was required to sit out the fall slate of competition.

Now fully eligible, Gogniat showed the NCAA rifle world what she’s capable of. Gogniat served as a representative for her home country of Switzerland in the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she brought home the nation’s fifth-ever Olympic medal in rifle. She earned the bronze medal in the 10-meter air rifle event, where she shot a 632.6.

She took her talents to Oxford, Miss., and continued her Olympic momentum in her first competition. Gogniat toed the line for the first time as a Rebel on Jan. 18 and casually swept the No. 1 spot in each event of the day. She tied the program record in smallbore with a 594 mark and followed that with a 599 finish in air rifle to form an 1193 aggregate. Her aggregate score is the second-highest in program history.

All three scores were the highest of the day in the field as she reached an Ole Miss season-high 100 center shots. 

Gogniat wasn’t the only highlight of the first day in Alaska. As a team, Ole Miss tied the fifth-highest air rifle score in program history with a 2382 mark.

Not to be outdone, Horvath and Dinh complemented Gogniat’s high-scoring day with high scores of their own, firing 595 and 594, respectively. Horvath has yet to shoot below 595 this season after her performance, as the veteran locked up the No. 6 spot on the event leaderboard. The rising star in Dinh upped her air rifle scoring average with the showcase and finished eighth in the rankings.

Regan Diamond took over as counter for the final stage of air rifle of the day. The sophomore led the relay squad by tying a season-high 594 to put the Rebels at No. 5 all-time.

After the team’s incredible display on day one, Gogniat and the Rebels elevated their performance the following day when facing just Akron and Army.

Ole Miss’ historic outing on Jan. 19 started in smallbore, where Gogniat once again made program history. She fired a 595 in the event, breaking the record she had tied the day prior. The previous mark had sat since 2020 and was set and matched by Kristen Derting and Lea Horvath. Horvath reached that mark four times, her most recent of which happened in the second match of the fall season where she tied her own program aggregate record. 

Two more of Martin’s first signing class as Ole Miss’ head coach, Jordan de Jesus and Dinh, followed Gogniat’s lead to earn the second- and third-highest marks of the event. De Jesus’ 590 was a career-high, while Dinh’s 589 in the second relay propelled Ole Miss to its 2362 finish.

That mark set the program record for highest smallbore score in program history, and it did so with a point to spare. Ole Miss’ previous high mark of 2361 occurred on Oct. 11, 2020, and it featured Horvath in her collegiate debut. She set a then-program record aggregate score of 1189, while Derting fired the original 594 record in smallbore.

M’Leah Lambdin held the anchor role for Ole Miss’ record breaking feat over the weekend, shooting the fifth-best score of the day with 588. All of the Ole Miss counters landed in the top five of the event.

After its historic smallbore conclusion, Ole miss shifted its focus to air rifle. With their smallbore finish, the Rebels would need to score 2363 to reach the top 10 in aggregate scoring, which was comfortably accomplished.

Gogniat once again paced the Rebels with a 598 score to bring her aggregate to 1193, the second time she’s scored that high on the weekend. Dinh, Horvath and Lambdin joined Gogniat in the top five of the event, with all four scoring 593 or higher. Lambdin, who wasn’t a counter in air rifle, scored a career-high 1181 aggregate score.

De Jesus clinched the second-highest aggregate score for the Rebels with her anchor score of 590. Dinh and de Jesus, who have been the highlight of Martin’s freshman class during the fall season, each set aggregate career highs on Sunday, scoring 1185 and 1180, respectively.

In total, six individual career-highs occurred over the weekend for Ole Miss’ athletes, showing a collective improvement as a team during the winter hiatus.

The Rebels’ 4740 is second in program history only to a 4743 finish on Nov. 6, 2022. With momentum on their side, the Rebels will aim for that mark again at home against Memphis on Sunday, Jan. 26. The match is set to begin at 9 a.m. and will take place at the Ole Miss Rifle Range.

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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