Rifle Travels to Memphis for the NCAA Qualifier

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – No. 6 Ole Miss rifle will head north to Memphis for the NCAA Qualifier, looking to bolster its chances to reach the NCAA Tournament on Feb. 22 at the R.F. Fogelman Rifle Range.

Saturday's NCAA qualifying score will be the last factor in determining the field for the 2025 NCAA Rifle Championships. Each team's three score aggregate average – the score based on each team's highest three regular season scores fired at three different locations – has already been recorded. This weekend's qualifier score will be added to that average. The teams with the eight highest combined scores will qualify for the NCAA Championship.

Ole Miss' (9-6, 1-2 PRC) three scores it will count as part of its NCAA Qualifying score are its program-best 4746 score at the Patriot Rifle Conference Tournament in Indiana, the now third-highest mark in program of 4740 in Alaska and its 4725 mark at home, also against Memphis. With those scores, Ole Miss has an impressive 4737 average and is within the top eight teams entering the weekend.

The Rebels will send seven athletes to shoot in the event, with its first relay set to begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, and the second relay beginning at 1:30 p.m. later that day.

On the Line

Ole Miss had a dominant 4746 performance in the PRC Tournament, where it finished second overall. It's tied for the best placement in a conference tournament in Ole Miss rifle history.
That aggregate score is the best in program history, with the Rebels scoring 2364 in smallbore to set the event record as well. It's the second time this season that Ole Miss has set the smallbore program mark, after initially doing so on Jan. 19 against Akron and Army.
Audrey Gogniat swept the individual titles in air rifle and smallbore, putting up what is one of the most impressive stat lines in Division I rifle history. Since the 2014-15 season, no athlete has ever shot better than her 1197 aggregate mark, in which she missed only three bullseyes in the entire tournament.
She obliterated her previous school smallbore record with a 597 mark. She last set a 595 score against Akron and Army on Jan. 19, 2025.
Gogniat joined Lea Horvath as the only Rebels in program history to fire a perfect 600 in air rifle to cap her stellar weekend. Horvath has accomplished the feat four times in her illustrious career.
In its last appearance against TCU and Murray State, Ole Miss tied the third-highest air rifle score in program history with a 2383 mark.
The Rebels have averaged a monstrous 2351.4 in smallbore while posting a 2380.6 average in air rifle in the spring.
A Rebel has sat atop the individual aggregate ranking in all but one spring appearance thus far.
Prior to the PRC Tournament, Ole Miss had a convincing 4725-4698 victory over Memphis. The Rebels filled the aggregate score podium, while also claiming the top six spots in smallbore.
Ole Miss is the sixth-ranked team in the nation according to the CRCA, which is the third highest among PRC programs.
Gogniat currently holds the highest aggregate score average in the nation through five appearances. She's firing 1190.0 per showing.
As a team, Ole Miss fired the second-highest aggregate score on Jan. 19, with a 4740 mark, which is now the third highest.
On Jan. 18, Ole Miss tied the fifth-highest air rifle score in program history with a 2382 mark. The Rebels would repeat this showing in the PRC Tournament with the same score.
Horvath leads the Rebels in aggregate and air rifle averages among season-long competitors, boasting 1181.5 and 595.7 per appearance, respectively. Gracie Dinh paces the team in smallbore scoring, putting up 588.0 per appearance.
The Rebels have the seventh-highest aggregate team score average in the NCAA and sit third in the PRC with 4718.2 in 10 matches.
Ole Miss also boasts the second-largest smallbore average in the PRC this season, with 2344.9, good for sixth in the country.
Dinh swept the board in the fall season finale against Ohio State, claiming the No. 1 spot in smallbore, air rifle and aggregate scoring. She scored a then-career best 1184 aggregate, which was the top score of 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.
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 five matches.
All six freshmen have countered for the Rebels in at least one event this season.
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 team welcomed six newcomers, all of who are freshmen.
The 13-member roster is the largest in program history.
Ole Miss rifle is ranked No. 6, 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.

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 greatest smallbore score in program history at the 2025 PRC Tournament.
Martin led Ole Miss to a second-place team finish in the 2025 PRC Tournament, the team's inaugural appearance in the conference.
She helped guide Gogniat to an individual event sweep in the PRC Tournament. She became the first individual aggregate conference winner in program history.

Scouting the Opponent

Memphis
Morgan Phillips is in her third season guiding the Memphis program. The Tigers are 5-8 entering the weekend's competition and are coming off a win to No. 15 Jacksonville State. They had their most productive outing against the Gamecocks, firing a team season-high 4723.

Junior Gabriela Zych leads the team in both air rifle and smallbore averages, scoring 594.7 and 586.0, respectively. Zych is Memphis' most decorated shooter, having represented the Tigers in last season's NCAA Championships while earning CRCA All-America honors. Kenlee Ewton and Katrina Demerle are behind Zych in scoring averages. Demerle was the team leader when Memphis came to Oxford in January, but has fallen in her averages since.

Rebs in the Rankings
The Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association ranked Ole Miss the No. 6 team in the country.

Four members of the PRC join Ole Miss inside the top 10: No. 1 Alaska Fairbanks, No. 4 TCU, No. 8 Air Force and No. 10 Nebraska. Ohio State and UTEP find themselves ranked No. 13 and No. 16.

History in the Making
Ole Miss has historically dominated NCAA Qualifying matches. The Rebels are a perfect 7-0 in the last seven seasons. Last season, the Rebels fired its best aggregate score of the spring season with a 4715 total to help punch their ticket to the national tournament.

A victory would boost Ole Miss' chances of reaching a fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament. It would be the longest streak by Ole Miss' rifle team in program history.

Senior Saturday Sendoff
Ole Miss celebrated its four seniors at the doubleheader match against TCU and Murray State. Katelyn Foust, Lea Horvath, M'Leah Lambdin and Katie Tedeschi are all set to walk the stage in May after leaving invaluable legacies not only on the rifle team, but at Ole Miss.

The group helped nurture one of the greatest eras in program history, which included a podium finish at the NCAA National Championship, four straight podium finishes in conference tournaments and a trio of sub-three loss seasons.

Horvath will go down as one of, if not the best Rebels in Ole Miss rifle history after five monumental years. Lambdin and Foust were dominant depth pieces for four years, each coming up with clutch performances in the opportunities given. Tedeschi, Ole Miss' lone transfer student, had two impressive seasons in Oxford where she helped the Rebels reach the podium of two conference tournaments.

Say 'Hello' to Audrey Gogniat
Head coach Rachel Martin added Swiss shooter and Olympic bronze medalist Audrey Gogniat to the 2024-25 roster last August, and after sitting out the fall season, Gogniat has made a splash in Division I rifle.

The Le Noirmont, Switzerland, native fired the best individual aggregate score in Ole Miss history with an 1197 mark. It's the highest among all NCAA shooters this season and set the best mark in Division I collegiate rifle since at least 2014-15.

To do that, Gogniat broke her own Ole Miss smallbore record with a 597 mark, as well as becoming the second Rebel to ever fire a perfect 600 in air rifle. In total, Gogniat missed only three bullseyes on the weekend while recording 99 center shots.

In her collegiate debut, 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 then-program record in smallbore with a 594 mark and followed that with a 599 finish in air rifle to form an 1193 aggregate. All three scores were the highest of the day in the field as she reached an Ole Miss season-high 100 center shots.

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 Fairbanks' 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. Those records held until Gogniat broke them in the spring. 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 among year-long competitors, 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.

Fantastic Freshmen
A large part of Ole Miss' success to start this season has come off the back of its 2024 freshmen class. All six 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 among season-long competitors with the highest smallbore average (588.0) and the second-highest aggregate average (1181.4) on the team.

She's only getting better with time, after setting a new career high mark of 1185 against Army and Akron.

De Jesus is right behind Dinh in scoring, averaging 1176.8 in aggregate and 592.1 in air rifle. She's fired a 596 in air rifle twice this season and is behind Dinh for the third-highest average on the team. Dinh and de Jesus each finished in the top eight in the smallbore event at the PRC Tournament.

Carter claimed her spot in the starting lineup in the back half of the fall season. As a counter, Carter has averaged 586.2 in air rifle and provided plenty of depth to 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 her last outing, she lifted off for a career best 595 in the first relay against TCU and Murray State.

In Riewe's first appearance as a counter, she fired a 586 in air rifle and is coming off her second score of over 590 in the event.

With the emergence of Audrey Gogniat, head coach Rachel Martin's first signing class as Ole Miss' head coach is shaping into one of the best in program history.

Smallbore Savages
Ole Miss has historically performed well in smallbore, both individually and as a group. However, the Rebels have upped the intensity in the spring season thus far. The Rebels fired a program-best 2364 in the PRC Tournament, as Audrey Gogniat shot an incredible 597 to set the individual record. Her score is tied for the second highest in Division I rifle since 2014-15.

All Rebel counters fired 588 or better to help secure the new record. Their efforts helped the four highest-scoring Rebels reach the championship round of the PRC Tournament, all finishing within the top seven.

Against Akron and Army, Ole Miss fired its first instance of setting the event record after firing a 2362. Gogniat set the school individual record with a 595 mark, as all four of Ole Miss' counters once again scored 588-or-better.

The Rebels had an all-time performance in the second match of the season against Murray State. Ole Miss' 2358 served as the third-best team score in program history, while Lea Horvath tied her personal career-high with 594.

The Rebels have the fifth-best team average in the event thus far and second highest in the PRC.

Much of Ole Miss' success in smallbore has come in the prone position. The Rebels have strung together 11 instances of firing a 200 in prone. Jordan de Jesus leads the team with four occurrences at the position, with Emma Pereira, Gogniat and Horvath having done so three times each. Susan Carter has done it twice.

Gogniat, Dinh, de Jesus and M'Leah Lambdin have both fired a 599 out of the gate in the kneeling position. Their 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 entering the conference championship portion of the season. Veteran M'Leah Lambdin has emerged as Ole Miss' critical anchor piece in the latter half of the season.

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 set a career-best 1181 aggregate score against Akron and Army.

Against TCU and Murray State, Lambdin's upward trajectory continued with her 594-air rifle score. That tied her career-best in the event, the fourth time she'd done it in her career.

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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Players Mentioned

Susan Carter

Jordan de Jesus

Gracie Dinh

Katelyn Foust

Audrey Gogniat

Lea Horvath

M'Leah Lambdin

Claudia Muzik

Emma Pereira

Kayla Riewe

Katie Tedeschi

The University of Mississippi Athletics