Jacob St. Hilaire Signs with Kentucky Rifle

LEXINGTON, Ky. – One of the best junior shooters in the nation will soon call the University of Kentucky home as former Texas State Champion Jacob St. Hilaire has signed with Harry Mullins, Cathryn Papasodora and Kentucky Rifle.

“We are very excited to welcome Jacob to the Big Blue Nation,” Mullins said. “Jacob is exactly what we look for when we go out and recruit. He is a terrific athlete, but his maturity on and off the range is what will make him an incredible teammate and Wildcat. We cannot wait to get him to Lexington this fall and get him going in our program.”

St. Hilaire will come to Lexington with impressive success as a junior competitor across the country. Recently, at the 2025 USA Shooting Junior Olympic Nationals he finished third in the under-18 category in air rifle and was 13th overall. A member of the Fort Bend County 4H and former member of the Houston Hotshots, St. Hilaire was the 2023 Texas State Champion and won silver medals at the 2023 CMP Nationals and USA Shooting Nationals. He also won the gold medal at the USA Shooting Winter Air Gun Championships.

“In my experience of watching Jacob shoot, he is highly analytical, welcoming of advice and feedback and remains positive throughout competition while walking away from the range with a mindset of improvement,” Papasodora said. “That mindset and willingness to learn along with his dedication and competitive edge will make him a great asset to our program.”

A native of Needville, Texas, St. Hilaire attends Needville High School and is a proud member of the BETA Club, Chess Club and Spanish Club. He plans to pursue an architecture degree from UK.

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