Rifle Ready for NCAA Championships in Columbus
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The 2026 NCAA Rifle National Championships are here as the No. 1 University of Kentucky rifle team travels this weekend for the two-day event inside the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio. The event is being hosted by Ohio State University.
Competition will begin Friday with smallbore and conclude Saturday with air rifle. Each day is set for an 9:15 a.m. ET start with Friday’s second relay beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET and Saturday’s second relay starting at 11:15 a.m. ET. An eight-person individual final will be held at the conclusion of each day in the respective disciplines. Live targets and a NCAA Scorecard will be available online at UKathletics.com. NCAA.com will a live stream of the action both days.
Kentucky qualified for the event after a great regular season topped off by an incredible NCAA qualifying score last month. This will be the 32nd NCAA Rifle Championship appearance for UK all time.
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.
“Looking forward to heading up to Columbus with the squad and competing for the final time this season,” UK head coach Harry Mullins said. “The work has been done and the team has trained all year very hard. This has been a great group to be around and this year will be a special one for me regardless what happens this weekend. Ohio State always does a great job hosting and I know the team is excited about competing together.”
UK’s impressive 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. February’s qualifier score was then added to that average and the teams with the eight highest combined scores qualified 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 the 4744 qualifying score 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. 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.
Kentucky will take its normal five countable athletes to the event, featuring seniors Sofia Ceccarello and Martin Voss, junior Braden Peiser and sophomores Liz Probst and Sam Adkins. Peiser, Probst and Ceccarello will be on the first relays with Voss and Adkins on the second relays.
Peiser has been amazing for Kentucky this season, leading the team in smallbore average at 595.455, air rifle average at 597.727 and aggregate average at 1193.182. He has set the NCAA record score for smallbore with his 597 at West Virginia in February and tied the NCAA aggregate score with a 1198. Last time out, he won the smallbore gold at the Great America Rifle Conference Championships and was the overall aggregate leader as well.
Adkins ranks second on the team with a 587.231 in smallbore and 596.769 in air rifle with a 1184 aggregate average. Ceccarello is third with a 587.364 smallbore average and 596.545 air rifle average for a 1183.909 aggregate average. Probst is earning a 585.083 smallbore average and 596.636 air rifle average for a 1181.719 aggregate average. Probst has posted two 600s this season in air rifle. Voss is earning a 582.833 in smallbore and 590.083 in air rifle for a 1172.916 aggregate average.
