Rifle Ranked No. 2 in Preseason Top 25
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association has released its 2025-26 preseason rankings, tabbing the University of Kentucky rifle team at No. 2.
The 2025-26 season will be the 38th season with head coach Harry Mullins at the helm. Mullins is joined only by legendary men’s basketball coach Adolph Rupp as the only head coaches in UK Athletics history with four national titles with the Wildcats.
Kentucky is coming off a runner-up finish at the 2025 NCAA Rifle National Championships, which the program hosted inside Historic Memorial Coliseum. The Wildcats finished just one point shy of tying for the team title, earning its seventh runner-up finish in program history. Rising junior Braden Peiser posted a 599 in air rifle competition and finished second in the air rifle final after a one-shot shoot off.
The Wildcats will return two unanimous Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association All-America honorees to its 2025-26 roster in Peiser and senior Sofia Ceccarello. Peiser and Ceccarello were both first-team All-America in aggregate, smallbore and air rifle. Both had incredible seasons for Kentucky with Peiser leading Kentucky in smallbore average and aggregate average, while Ceccarello led in air rifle average and was second on the team in aggregate average.
Also returning for Kentucky will be CRCA All-America honorees Sam Adkins and Martin Voss, who both competed in the NCAA Championships last season. Adkins was honorable mention in smallbore and air rifle, while Voss was honorable mention in smallbore. UK’s other 2025 NCAA Championships squadded competitor was Liz Probst, who had an incredible rookie season for UK. Probst earned a silver medal in smallbore at the GARC Championships last season and made the NCAA Championships smallbore individual final, finishing seventh. Both Adkins and Probst are poised for strong sophomore seasons, while Voss will be entering his senior year.
Also returning will be senior AJ Hotko, junior Emily Marne and sophomores Brandon Evans and Hannah Todd. The Wildcats will also add several impressive junior competitors that should add great depth to Team 38.
West Virginia was tabbed first overall in the preseason listing, while TCU was third, Alaska-Fairbanks fourth and Georgia Southern fifth. Rounding out the top-10 was Ole Miss, Air Force, Murray State, Navy and Memphis.
Kentucky is one of the most decorated programs in NCAA rifle history, with four national titles – 2011, 2018, 2021 and 2022 – seven runner-up finishes and 24 top-five finishes.
