Kentucky Finishes Second Overall, Peiser Earns Silver in Air Rifle
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky rifle team earned its seventh runner-up finish in program history at the 2025 NCAA Rifle National Championships, finishing just one point behind West Virginia, who took home its first team national championship since 2017. UK sophomore Braden Peiser earned silver in the air rifle individual competition.
Kentucky scored a 2383 as a team in air rifle, including its 2354 smallbore score, the Wildcats posted a 4737 total aggregate for the second-place finish. WVU shot a 2388 in air rifle to finish with a 4738 team score. Alaska finished third with a 4726. UK earned a second-place trophy in smallbore, third-place trophy in air rifle and second-place overall award.
Sophomore Braden Peiser posted a 599 in competition to get into the individual air rifle final. In the final, Peiser trailed for a majority of the competition, but erased a 1.9 deficit to tie the match on the last shot. In a one-shot shoot off, it was Ole Miss’ Audrey Gogniat that earned gold.
On top of Peiser’s 599, which included 54 centers, junior Sofia Ceccarello posted a 597 with 51 centers. Freshman Liz Probst scored a 595 with 47 centers, while fellow freshman Sam Adkins rounded out the scoring with a 592 and 46 centers. Junior Martin Voss was an uncountable score for Kentucky with a 588 and 43 centers.
Kentucky is one of the most decorated programs in NCAA rifle history, with four national titles – 2011, 2018, 2021 and 2022 and no seven runner-up finishes and 24 top-five finishes. The 2025 championships technically marjed the second time UK has hosted the national event. The first was in 2020 when UK turned Memorial Coliseum into a first-class range before the NCAA canceled the championships after Thursday’s practice day due to the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. That season, Kentucky was ranked No. 1 in the nation and was having an undefeated season.
“This group has done phenomenal things. In fact, I finished telling them that we came into the championships ranked third and throughout the year we were ranked third and fourth and sometimes either fifth or sixth. But the work they have put in is phenomenal. We have worked on our athletic accomplishments, as far as being better on the range, and we have worked hard at growing as individuals. I couldn’t be more proud of the team as a whole. Coming up a point short is obviously disappointing, but the success ratio of this group is very, very good. I think we will see some good things coming in the future,” UK head coach Harry Mullins said.
The second-place overall finish concludes a memorable 37th season for Kentucky under head coach Harry Mullins.
For more information on the Kentucky rifle team, visit UKathletics.com or follow UKRifle on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
