Kentucky Hosts NCAA Qualifier Saturday Inside Barker Hall
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky rifle team looks to cement its place in next month’s NCAA Rifle Championships with a strong qualifying score Saturday as it hosts a NCAA Qualifier inside the UK Rifle Range. Morehead State will also compete in the qualifier Saturday, which will get underway at 8:30 a.m. ET.
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. 10:30 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 p.m. ET with air rifle to follow around 3 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 live commentary online to help provide a breakdown of the action and how the teams and competitors are performing. Former UK All-Americans Billy Azzinaro, who helped lead UK to the 2018 NCAA Championship, and Emmie Sellers, who helped UK win the 2021 and 2022 national titles, will be providing commentary of the action on Saturday. The live commentary will be available through the UK Rifle Facebook Page, along with live targets and a NCAA scorecard.
Kentucky will honor two seniors following the first air rifle relay on Saturday. Seniors Ally Buesseler and Tori Kopelen will be honored for their hard work and dedication to the UK program at approx. 12:30 p.m. ET inside the UK Rifle Range. Buesseler and Kopelen have been a mainstay for the UK program the last four years, helping UK earn the 2022 National Championship and two Great America Rifle Conference Regular-Season Championships.
“This is always a fun weekend for our program as we get a chance to put up a big qualifying score and 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 Ally and Tori and all they have meant to our program. Hopefully we can have a great Saturday of honoring them and posting a big score. We obviously didn’t perform how we wanted to last time out, but we have turned the page and worked hard the last few weeks to get better.”
Saturday’s NCAA qualifying score will be the last factor determining the field for the 2025 NCAA Rifle Championships, which will be held inside Historic Memorial Coliseum in March. 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 Lexington for the championships March 14-15.
UK’s three scores it will count as part of its NCAA Qualifying score are its 4748 in Colorado, an impressive 4742 fired to start the 2025 schedule in Lexington and its 4740 at Ole Miss in the fall of 2024. The impressive scores currently place UK third in the NCAA qualifying standings at 4743.33 with WVU first at 4756 and West Virginia second at 4754.
On the season, Kentucky is averaging 2347.31 in smallbore and 2381.92 in air rifle for a 4729.23 team aggregate average. UK’s season-best team score came Nov. 24 in a tri-match with Air Force and Akron in Colorado Springs, Colorado, earning a 4748. Individually, sophomore Braden Peiser is Kentucky’s top aggregate performer with a 591.455 smallbore average and 596.696 air rifle average for an aggregate average of 1188.091. Peiser did not compete in Kentucky’s dual match with West Virginia due to illness. Junior Sofia Ceccarello has the team’s best air rifle average at 597.667 and is second in aggregate average with a 1186.667 including her 589 smallbore average. Freshman Liz Probst is having a great rookie season with a 583.417 smallbore average and 595 air rifle average for a 1178.417 aggregate average. Fellow freshman Sam Adkins is also averaging a 1179 aggregate average with a 584.417 smallbore average and 594.583 air rifle average. Junior Martin Voss is averaging a 584.636 in smallbore and 591.727 in air rifle for a 1176.363 aggregate, while Buesseler is earning a 582.667 average in smallbore and 590.5 in air rifle for a 1173.167 aggregate average. Freshman Brandon Evans is earning a 580.833 in smallbore and 590.182 in air rifle, while junior AJ Hotko is posting a 576.167 smallbore average and 590.429 air rifle average. Freshman Hannah Todd is having a good season, averaging a 564 in smallbore and 584.286 in air rifle, while sophomore Emily Marne is earning a 541.8 in smallbore and 572 in air rifle.
Postseason competition begins March 1-2 with the GARC Championships in Morgantown, West Virginia.
Historic Memorial Coliseum is set to host the 2025 NCAA Rifle National Championships on March 14-15 and both all-session tickets and single-session tickets are now on sale. The two-day event will see the best air rifle and smallbore competitors in the nation compete on the Historic Memorial Coliseum floor. The smallbore competition will be March 14 followed by air rifle competition on March 15. All-session and single-session tickets are on sale now through the UK Athletics Account Manager. All-session tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for youth (ages 3-18) and seniors (age 65+). Single-session tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for youth (ages 3-18) and seniors (age 65+). Children ages 2 and under will be admitted free of charge.
For more information on the Kentucky rifle team, visit UKathletics.com or follow UKRifle on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
