Rifle Qualifies No. 1 Overall for 2026 NCAA Championships
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After a great regular season topped off by an incredible NCAA qualifying score last weekend inside the UK Rifle Range, the University of Kentucky rifle team has qualified for its 32nd NCAA Rifle Championships and will compete in the 2026 championships on March 13-14 inside the Corvelli Center in Columbus, Ohio.
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. Last season, UK finished as national runners-up to West Virginia inside Historic Memorial Coliseum.
“Excited that the team has worked hard in the regular season and earned a spot in the NCAA Championships,” UK head coach Harry Mullins said. “This is probably the most competitive regular season we have had as the field is wide open and any of the eight teams can win it. Our focus right now is on the GARC Championships this weekend and making sure we are fine tuning everything for a good postseason run.”
Last Saturday’s NCAA qualifying score was the last factor determining the field for the 2026 NCAA Rifle Championships. Each team’s three score aggregate average – the score based on each team’s highest three regular season scores fired at three different locations – was already recorded. Last weekend’s qualifier score was then added to that average and the teams with the eight highest combined scores qualifying for the NCAA Championships.
UK’s three scores it counted as part of its NCAA Qualifying score were 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 gave UK a 4756 aggregate average, which was added to Saturday’s 4744 for a 9500 NCAA Qualifying score, placing the Wildcats first overall entering the championships.
Nebraska is seeded second with a 9495.33, while TCU is third at 9490.33 and WVU is fourth at 9485.67. Ole Miss is fifth with a 9483, while Alaska and Navy tied for sixth and seventh at 9472 and Georgia Southern is eighth at 9462.33.
The two-day championship event will see the best air rifle and smallbore competitors in the nation compete for individual and team championships. Smallbore competition will being Friday at 9 a.m. ET, followed by air rifle competition Saturday that will also begin at 9 a.m. ET. An individual final will be held each day and all awards will be handed out Saturday at the conclusion of the event.
Ohio State also hosted the NCAA Rifle Championships in 2021 with Kentucky taking home the national title that season. Full tournament listings can be found at NCAA.com.
Prior to the NCAA Championships, Kentucky will travel this weekend to West Point, New York for the Great America Rifle Conference Championships. The two-day event, which is scheduled similar to the NCAA Championships, will begin Saturday with smallbore and finish Sunday with air rifle. A complete preview of the event will be available later this week on UKathletics.com.
