Season Recap

2019-20 SEASON RECAP The 2019-20 season brought the Ole Miss Rifle program to new heights with incredible individual and team accomplishments.

The Rebels kicked off the 2019-20 season with back-to-back victories, defeating No. 17 UT Martin 4668-4591 on the road and No. 8 Army 4664-4645 at home.

On Nov. 2, Ole Miss hosted the nation’s top team, West Virginia. Against the Mountaineers, Ole Miss shot a program-record 2372 in air rifle to obtain the third-highest aggregate score in school history at 4679.

Buesseler broke the aggregate school record by three full points with an 1183 and tied the air rifle mark of 597. The Rebels outshot perennial powerhouse West Virginia in the opening event thanks in large part to Buesseler’s 52 center shots.

Ole Miss climbed the CRCA Rankings, making its way up to No. 5 for four weeks in the fall. This was the highest ranking in program history for the Rebels.

After closing out the fall season with a 2-3 record, six individuals competed at the 2019 Winter Airgun Championships, which also served as part one of the U.S. Olympic Trials for air rifle. Ole Miss Alum, Ali Weisz found her way on to the podium for the second straight year. She took home silver with a final score of 1256.0, just four-tenths behind the top finisher.

In February, the team took a trip to Fort Worth, Texas to take on the defending National Champions, TCU. 4679 points.

Despite dropping the match to the Horned Frogs, the Rebel trio of junior Abby Buesseler, freshman Kristen Derting and senior Alana Kelly all recorded career-highs to power Ole Miss to its third-best score in program history, with a mark of 4679.

Later that month, the Ole Miss rifle team ended the regular season with a Senior Day victory, downing No. 8 Memphis, 4672-4665. Following the match, senior Alana Kelly was honored by the team.

The Rebels ranked No. 7 nationally heading into and service. Junior Kamilla Kisch also became a

their NCAA Qualifier match on Feb. 22. As a team, they outshot host Jacksonville State and turned in a score of 4652. However, a pair of season-high performances by No. 9 Murray State and No. 10 Navy at other NCAA Qualifier sites hurt the Rebel’s NCAA Rifle Championships qualification chances.

Ole Miss wrapped up its record-breaking season at the GARC Championships. Freshman Kristen Derting’s smallbore performance highlighted the first day of competition as she finished sixth overall in the smallbore discipline. The Salem, Oregon, native qualified for the eight-person finals with 582 points and proceeded to survive two rounds of elimination. It was the highest a Rebel had finished in the threeevent discipline at the league championships since 2012. She fired a 197 kneeling in the event with an Buesseler was set to compete at the 2020 NCAA Rifle Championship on March 13 in smallbore. Unfortunately, the championship event was canceled by the NCAA due to health and safety concerns related to COVID-19.

Ole Miss was remarkably consistent as a team throughout the season. The Rebels tallied seven of the top-10 scores in school history as well as 10 of the top-15 totals. The scores ranged from 4666 to

The Rebels matched their achievements on the range with academic success. A trio of student-athletes went above and beyond in the classroom and with outside organizations. Buesseler was inducted into Mortar Board, an honor society recognizing college students for their exemplary scholarship, leadership, impressive streak of 19 consecutive 10s.

member of Phi Kappa Phi, which celebrates students in a similar manner.

Thirdly, Jillian Zakrzeski was named the Ole Miss Army ROTC Cadet of the Month for March thanks to her success in the organization and as a member of the Ole Miss Rifle team. Additionally, nine Rebels were commemorated as CRCA Scholastic All-Americans.

Junior Abby Buesseler was a leading force for the entirety of the season. Her consistency carried over into the NCAA Qualifier match where she qualified as an-at large individual for smallbore at the NCAA Rifle Championships. She finished 2019-20 with a smallbore season average of 582.3 and aggregate average of 1171.6, which were two of several school records she set. Assistant coach Jean-Pierre Lucas received recognition by the league as the GARC Assistant Coach of the Year. It was his second such honor in three seasons.

The Rebel home matches featured tremendous support in 2019-20. Fans helped set a new attendance record of 84 people per match. Four of the five matches saw at least 75 fans, including members of the Ole Miss Air Force, Army, and Navy ROTC programs. The Rebels spent the entire regular season inside the Top 10 of the CRCA Poll. It was yet another highwater mark as Ole Miss reached as high as No. 5, a new program best, for four weeks. The squad finished with strong national averages to maintain strong poll rankings, which included sixth in smallbore and aggregate as well as seventh in air rifle.

Years of hard work and dedication made Ole Miss Rifle alum Ali Weisz’s dream of making the USA Shooting Team a reality as she claimed a spot on the women’s air rifle roster for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. Weisz finished second among the nation’s best shooting athletes after two intense rounds of qualification and pair of finals. The 2017 Ole Miss graduate also took home Gold at last summer’s Pan American Games and Silver at the Winter Airgun Championships. The Stacy, Minnesota product was named First Team for smallbore by the NRA. Buesseler also garnered Second Team honors in smallbore and Third Team honors for aggregate by the CRCA.