Air Force selected for NCAA Rifle Championships
2/24/2025 4:15:00 PM | Rifle
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – The Air Force rifle team was selected to compete in the 2025 NCAA Rifle Championships, March 14-15, at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky. The smallbore competition will be Friday, March 14, followed by air rifle competition on Saturday, March 15.
Under head coach Launi Meili, the Falcons have been selected to compete for the 11th straight season. It is the 24th overall selection for the Falcon rifle team.
"It was an incredibly hard-fought season with six teams fighting all year for the last two slots available to make it to the big show in Lexington," head coach Launi Meili said. "We were ranked anywhere from sixth to ninth all season, so it was going to come down to the right team having a good day on the last day to make it into the top eight. It took a total team performance on the last day to move on to the national stage and I am so proud of them."
A maximum of 48 competitors are selected to attend the championships. The top eight teams in the combined smallbore and air rifle qualify for the championships.
The competitive events for the 2025 National Collegiate Men's and Women's Rifle Championships will be individual smallbore rifle three-position (60 shots) and air rifle (60 shots), with individual finals in each event, team smallbore rifle three-position and team air rifle. The overall team champion will be determined by combining the smallbore and air rifle team totals into one aggregate score for each institution.
Each team will consist of five individuals with the top four scores in each discipline counting toward the team score. All competitors who have qualified for the championships are eligible for the individual championships in each discipline. The relay format of the championships will place at least one competitor from each institution as counters on each relay in both smallbore and air rifle.
Air Force closed out the regular season last weekend with a dual meet at TCU (Feb. 20) and then an NCAA Qualifier in Fort Worth, Texas (Feb. 22).
"In the final smallbore relay last weekend, Victoria Leppert and Lauren Hurley were on the line as our counting members and were focused and determined," Meili said. "I didn't have to tell them where we were stacked up against the rest of the pack, only that it was time to go to work. And that's exactly what they did. They put their head and heart into the match and got it done. They stayed focused and calm throughout the competition and shot about the best they'd ever done, hardly dropping a point in prone and standing smallbore. They both had absolute brilliant air rifle shooting when we needed it the most, Victoria had a 598, and Lauren had a 597. Only dropping a combined five points is incredible."
Air Force is joined in the NCAA Championship field this season by Alaska Fairbanks, Georgia Southern, Kentucky, Murray State, Ole Miss, TCU and West Virginia.
"We beat the ninth-place team by only five points," Meili said. "There are thousands of points available throughout the season, so getting in by that slim of a margin, you know we made it by pure guts on the line. I couldn't be more proud of how the team competed in the heaviest competitive field we've ever faced. Since we are going to the NCAA's in eighth place, the only place to go is up."
Senior Lauren Hurley leads the team with an aggregate average of 1181.80, 20th in the nation. Freshman Lily Wytko is second on the team (1177.619), followed by junior Victoria Leppert (1176.067) and senior Scott Rockett (1173.534). Hurley leads the team in smallbore average (585.857) and air rifle average (596.067).
Last season, Air Force placed fifth at the 2024 NCAA Rifle Championships in Morgantown, W.V. The fifth-place finish matched the 2022 finish and tied as the best since the 2019 team placed third overall. The team's 4709 score last season was the second-best ever at the NCAA Championships. Air Force placed fifth in both air rifle (2376) and smallbore (2333). Lauren Hurley finished at 1176, Victoria Leppert shot an 1168 and Scott Rockett shot an 1180. TCU won the NCAA team championship in 2024.
Air Force won the NCAA team air rifle championship in 2019. Air Force's highest team finish at the NCAAs came in 1995 and 1996 with a second-place finish. The 2019 team finished third overall.
For more information on the NCAA Rifle Championships, please visit NCAA.com.
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Under head coach Launi Meili, the Falcons have been selected to compete for the 11th straight season. It is the 24th overall selection for the Falcon rifle team.
"It was an incredibly hard-fought season with six teams fighting all year for the last two slots available to make it to the big show in Lexington," head coach Launi Meili said. "We were ranked anywhere from sixth to ninth all season, so it was going to come down to the right team having a good day on the last day to make it into the top eight. It took a total team performance on the last day to move on to the national stage and I am so proud of them."
A maximum of 48 competitors are selected to attend the championships. The top eight teams in the combined smallbore and air rifle qualify for the championships.
The competitive events for the 2025 National Collegiate Men's and Women's Rifle Championships will be individual smallbore rifle three-position (60 shots) and air rifle (60 shots), with individual finals in each event, team smallbore rifle three-position and team air rifle. The overall team champion will be determined by combining the smallbore and air rifle team totals into one aggregate score for each institution.
Each team will consist of five individuals with the top four scores in each discipline counting toward the team score. All competitors who have qualified for the championships are eligible for the individual championships in each discipline. The relay format of the championships will place at least one competitor from each institution as counters on each relay in both smallbore and air rifle.
Air Force closed out the regular season last weekend with a dual meet at TCU (Feb. 20) and then an NCAA Qualifier in Fort Worth, Texas (Feb. 22).
"In the final smallbore relay last weekend, Victoria Leppert and Lauren Hurley were on the line as our counting members and were focused and determined," Meili said. "I didn't have to tell them where we were stacked up against the rest of the pack, only that it was time to go to work. And that's exactly what they did. They put their head and heart into the match and got it done. They stayed focused and calm throughout the competition and shot about the best they'd ever done, hardly dropping a point in prone and standing smallbore. They both had absolute brilliant air rifle shooting when we needed it the most, Victoria had a 598, and Lauren had a 597. Only dropping a combined five points is incredible."
Air Force is joined in the NCAA Championship field this season by Alaska Fairbanks, Georgia Southern, Kentucky, Murray State, Ole Miss, TCU and West Virginia.
"We beat the ninth-place team by only five points," Meili said. "There are thousands of points available throughout the season, so getting in by that slim of a margin, you know we made it by pure guts on the line. I couldn't be more proud of how the team competed in the heaviest competitive field we've ever faced. Since we are going to the NCAA's in eighth place, the only place to go is up."
Senior Lauren Hurley leads the team with an aggregate average of 1181.80, 20th in the nation. Freshman Lily Wytko is second on the team (1177.619), followed by junior Victoria Leppert (1176.067) and senior Scott Rockett (1173.534). Hurley leads the team in smallbore average (585.857) and air rifle average (596.067).
Last season, Air Force placed fifth at the 2024 NCAA Rifle Championships in Morgantown, W.V. The fifth-place finish matched the 2022 finish and tied as the best since the 2019 team placed third overall. The team's 4709 score last season was the second-best ever at the NCAA Championships. Air Force placed fifth in both air rifle (2376) and smallbore (2333). Lauren Hurley finished at 1176, Victoria Leppert shot an 1168 and Scott Rockett shot an 1180. TCU won the NCAA team championship in 2024.
Air Force won the NCAA team air rifle championship in 2019. Air Force's highest team finish at the NCAAs came in 1995 and 1996 with a second-place finish. The 2019 team finished third overall.
For more information on the NCAA Rifle Championships, please visit NCAA.com.
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Players Mentioned
Launi Meili Interview March 5, 2025
Wednesday, March 05
Launi Meili Interview Nov 5, 2024
Tuesday, November 05
Launi Meili Interview - February 20th, 2024
Tuesday, February 20
Dave Johnson Interview Feb 6, 2024
Tuesday, February 06
