Ole Miss rifle has concluded a successful 2024-25 campaign with a Rebel being crowned an individual national champion for the first time in program history.
Audrey Gogniat fired a perfect 600 in air rifle en route to becoming Ole Miss rifle’s first individual NCAA champion on Saturday at the Historic Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky. Gogniat connected on 58 center shots in her 60 attempts to become the second Rebel in program history, to fire two perfect 600s in a single season, joining teammate Lea Horvath. Both of hers came in a tournament setting, the first of which came at the Patriot Rifle Championship.
Following her momentous 600, Gogniat breezed past the competition in the final round. She built a lead of up to 2.4 points upon reaching the single elimination rounds and would not relinquish it. It came down to Gogniat and Kentucky’s Braden Peiser in the final round, which was forced into a tiebreak. Gogniat, a Switzerland native, proceeded to shoot a title-clinching 10.6 for a final score of 252.6.
MEDAL REBEL 🥇
Audrey Gogniat did something no Ole Miss rifle athlete has done before, tap to read more!
— Ole Miss Rifle (@OleMissRifle) March 17, 2025
She and her teammate, Gracie Dinh, led the Rebels to a runner-up team finish in air rifle. It’s the highest finish in air rifle in program history and tied for the second-best placement in any event in the national tournament for Ole Miss. The last time Ole Miss reached a top-three finish was when it earned the silver medal in smallbore during the 2023 national tournament.
This year, the Rebels fired a 2383, which tied for the third-highest air rifle score in school history. Their air rifle performance boosted them up one position from fifth in smallbore to fourth overall in the team scoring.
Dinh tied a career-high in the event, shooting a 597 for the third time in her freshman career to propel Ole Miss onto the podium. She finished 11th overall with 50 centered shots.
All-time Rebels Lea Horvath and M’Leah Lambdin closed their careers with 592 and 594 scores, respectively. Lambdin’s score fittingly tied her career-high, which she’s done in three consecutive meets.
For Horvath, she closes her five-year career at Ole Miss with her third season of scoring at least a 590-air rifle score in each of her appearances. She finished the year with the highest air rifle average for Ole Miss among all season-long competitors with 595.2 per showing.
Per the Ole Miss Athletics Department, the rifle team concludes the 2024-25 season with a national champion, a runner-up finish in the NCAA’s air rifle competition and silver medals in the PRC smallbore and aggregate placement. The Rebels also set new program marks both in smallbore and aggregate scoring, cementing a historic campaign.
