Ole Miss Rifle Team Has NCAA Championship in Sights

By Neely Mullen and Marissa McCardell
Journalism Students

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=WE3juWWdCQk

Ole Miss Rifle team members are preparing for the shot of their lives. 

Under the direction of coaches Marsha Beasley and Jean-Pierre Lucas, the University of Mississippi rifle team has set their sights on a new goal: the NCAA Championships.

Megan Taylor shoots at a rifle team practice on Monday, April 22, 2019. Taylor, a biology major, joined the team as a redshirt freshman in the 2017–2018 season. Photo by Neely Mullen.

The Rebels had a memorable 2018–2019 season with several notable milestones. Ten members were selected as honorees for the SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll and four Ole Miss athletes competed in the National Junior Olympic Shooting Championship. The team ended the season with six wins and broke multiple personal and team records.

“We all want to put together the same thing: the most competitive and successful team we can,” Beasley said. “And when I say we, I mean the coaching staff, the athletes and the support staff.”

Though this is only Beasley’s third year as head coach, the team has already reached new heights under her leadership. Beasley, who is an eight-time NCAA Championship coach and the 2017–18 Great America Rifle Coach of the Year, guided the team to a program-record score in 2018. The Rebels also briefly rose to the rank of No. 7 in the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA) rankings — their highest ranking since a sixth-place finish at the 2006 NCAA Rifle Championships.

“Since we’ve gotten here, our program has grown so much. With new coaches like Marsha and JP, we came up through the rankings,” said sophomore Sophia Cuozzo. “Nobody realized how good our team has gotten because of how strong our team has become. It’s because we all work together and we have so much potential to get there that we all know we have the capabilities of succeeding.”

Aside from success on the range, the team also excelled in the classroom. This year for the first time in program history, every Ole Miss Rifle student-athlete earned recognition as a Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association Scholastic All-American.

Assistant coach Jean-Pierre Lucas helps sophomore Kamilla Kisch at a team practice on Monday, April 22, 2019. Photo by Neely Mullen.

“From the beginning, Ole Miss had everything I needed,” sophomore Emily Cock said. “We have the coaches and we have the academic side. No other school is better than that and I’m the type of person who doesn’t want any excuses… If I don’t do as well on or off the range, I know it’s my fault and no one else’s because we have the best of everything.”

Not only has the team bonded over their achievements, but with countless hours spent practicing, working out and traveling together, the team has been able to create a stronger and more positive team dynamic.

“With there being no one on the team from Mississippi and everyone pretty much being far from their family, we just learned that this team is going to be our new family who we spend 30–40 hours a week with,” senior Randi Loudin said. “Even when we have downtime away from shooting, we usually still all hang out because we’ve realized these are the people we want to be around.”

This positive team dynamic has allowed for each member of the rifle team to become inspired to achieve not only their team goals but also their individual goals.

“The team as a whole and the team atmosphere has really inspired to better myself as an athlete and as a student,” Cuozzo said. “This team is definitely something that’s changed my life. It’s not just about going to Ole Miss, it’s about being a Division I athlete for the University of Mississippi.”