No. 1 Rifle Hosts Georgia Southern, Morehead State for NCAA Qualifier Saturday
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Saturday will be a big day inside the UK Rifle Range as not only will the No. 1 University of Kentucky rifle team host a NCAA Qualifier to hopefully earn a spot in next month’s NCAA Championships, but honor four seniors that have meant everything to the program the last few years.
Saturday’s match will feature two relays with sights and prep for relay one smallbore beginning at 8:30 a.m. ET. Air rifle will follow at approx. 11 a.m. ET and the UK Rifle Range will open to fans at that time. Relay two is expected to get underway with smallbore around 1:45 p.m. ET with air rifle to follow around 3:45 p.m. ET. The UK Rifle Range only opens to spectators for air rifle relays, however free breakfast and live targets are available in Barker Hall during smallbore. Admission is free.
Another way for fans to follow along both in-person and watching at home will be a live stream, which features a breakdown of the action and how the teams and competitors are performing by former UK All-Americans Billy Azzinaro, who helped lead UK to the 2018 NCAA Championship. The live commentary will be available through the UK Rifle Facebook Page and UK Sports Video YouTube. Live targets and a NCAA Scorecard will be available online at UKathletics.com
Kentucky will honor four seniors following the completion of the first relay on Saturday. Seniors Sofia Ceccarello, Brandon Evans, AJ Hotko and Martin Voss will be honored for their hard work and dedication to the UK program at approx. 12:15 p.m. ET inside the UK Rifle Range. Ceccarello, Hotko and Voss came into the program at the same time as freshmen with Evans transferring in a few years later. All four have had a major impact on UK’s success, including a second-place finish at the NCAA Championships last season.
“This is always a fun weekend for our program as we get a chance to compete under pressure with the hopes to lock in our spot in the championships and honor our seniors as well,” UK head coach Harry Mullins said. “We are all very appreciative of Sofia, Brandon, AJ and Martin and all they have meant to our program. Hopefully we can have a great Saturday of honoring them and posting a big score. All four of them are great competitors but what they will be remembered for is who they are a people and how they have carried themselves and advanced this program.”
Saturday’s NCAA qualifying score will be the last factor determining the field for the 2026 NCAA Rifle Championships, which will be hosted by Ohio State inside the Covelli Center on March 13-14. 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 and make their way to Columbus, Ohio for the championships.
UK’s three scores it will count as part of its NCAA Qualifying score are its NCAA record 4762 score in Lexington, an impressive 4759 fired to start the 2026 schedule in Fairbanks, Alaska and its 4747 at Army in the fall of 2025. The impressive scores currently place UK first in the NCAA qualifying standings at 4756 with Nebraska second at 4751.33 and TCU third at 4749.33. Georgia Southern currently sits sixth at 4742.33 while Morehead State is 17th at 4686.
Last weekend, Kentucky was outlasted by West Virginia in Morgantown, losing a five-point lead after smallbore to fall to WVU. UK posted a 4741 in the match with WVU scoring a 4746 and claiming the Great America Rifle Conference Regular-Season Championship.
Junior Braden Peiser was the star for Kentucky in the match, setting a NCAA record with a 599 smallbore score and tying another NCAA record with a 1198 aggregate score. Peiser also shot a 599 in air rifle in the match. The junior has the four best smallbore scores in the nation this season and is leading the team with a 595.333 smallbore average an 598 air rifle average for a 1193.333 aggregate average.
Sophomore Sam Adkins is second on the team with a 587.818 smallbore and 596.909 air rifle average, while Ceccarello is third with a 587.5 smallbore average and 596.7 air rifle average. Sophomore Liz Probst is having a great season with a 584.8 smallbore average and 596.222 air rifle average.
Evans and Voss are having good years in their final season at UK. Evans is earning a 582.818 smallbore average and 592.091 air rifle average, while Voss is earning a 583.8 smallbore average and 590.4 air rifle average.
Freshmen Elisa Boozer and Jacob St. Hilaire are having good rookie seasons with UK. Boozer is earning a 575.636 in smallbore and 593.909 in air rifle, while St. Hilaire is averaging a 575.556 in smallbore and 591.778 in air rifle. Sophomore Hannah Todd is earning a 566.625 in smallbore and 586.5 in air rifle, while Hotko is posting a 567 in smallbore and 582.4 in air rifle and junior Emily Marne a 555.2 in smallbore and 570 in air rifle.
Following this weekend’s competition, Kentucky will await NCAA Championship selections, which will be announced Monday, Feb. 23 at 6 p.m. ET on NCAA.com.
Postseason competition will being next weekend as Kentucky travels to Army West Point for the 2026 GARC Championships. The two-day event will feature smallbore Saturday, Feb. 28 and air rifle Sunday, March 1.
