West Virginia claims overall team title at NCAA rifle championships

By AP News Published Mar 15, 2025 05:05 pm

LEXINGTON, Ky, (AP) — The West Virginia Mountaineers claimed the 2025 NCAA national rifle championships Saturday.

The title is the first for West Virginia since its string of five straight national championships was snapped in 2017. The Mountaineers were second last year behind TCU.

West Virginia posted a team score of 2,350 in smallbore and 2,388 in air rifle for an aggregate score of 4,738, edging Kentucky by one point. Alaska Fairbanks was third with an aggregate score of 4,726.

The Nanooks’ Rachael Charles was the top individual performer, posting a score of 595 in smallbore and 596 in air rifle for an aggregate score of 1,191.

Alaska Fairbanks swept the smallbore event, claiming the team title while Cecelia Ossi claimed the individual title Friday night.

Audrey Gogniat posted a perfect score of 600 to claim the individual air rifle championship, one point ahead of both Braden Peiser of Kentucky and Katie Zaun of Texas Christian. West Virginia claimed the team title with a score of 2,388.

—-

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports