Collegiate Rifle: No. 1 TCU Squeezes By No. 2 Alaska-Fairbanks, Wins Patriot Rifle Conference Championship

No. 1-ranked Texas Christian University landed a hard-fought victory over the weekend at the 2023 Patriot Rifle Conference Championship in Fairbanks, Alaska. TCU walked away from the competition with an aggregate score of 4750, only one point ahead of the runner-up, the host school and No. 2-ranked University of Alaska-Fairbanks.

Taking the individual aggregate crown at the 2023 Patriot Rifle Conference Championship was TCU freshman Julie Johannessen, who fired a 1198 combined score (600 air rifle, 598 smallbore). Her aggregate score is a new NCAA record. Additionally, Johannessen won the individual air rifle championship with 56 center shots.

Right behind Johannessen on the individual aggregate leaderboard was her TCU teammate, freshman Katie Zaun with 1192 (599 air rifle, 593 smallbore).

With the two TCU freshmen mentioned above and their top 600 and 599 air rifle scores, TCU dominated the discipline at the match. Another TCU shooter, graduate student Abby Gordon, also turned in a solid 598 air rifle score—good for a fourth-place ranking in the individual air rifle standings.

University of Alaska-Fairbanks sophomore Rylan Kissell was the top shooter for his team with a score of 1191, placing him third in the individual aggregate.

In addition to TCU and Alaska-Fairbanks, four other teams were competing in Alaska over the weekend of February 4-5 at the 2023 Patriot Rifle Conference Championship: No. 6 Nebraska, No. 7 Air Force, No. 11 Ohio State and the University of Texas-El Paso.

See the team aggregate leaderboard below.

1. TCU 4750 (air rifle 2390, smallbore 2360)
2. Alaska-Fairbanks 4749 (air rifle 2384, smallbore 2365)
3. Nebraska 4724 (air rifle 2376, smallbore 2348)
4. Air Force 4708 (air rifle 2375, smallbore 2333)
5. Ohio State 4694 (air rifle 2355, smallbore 2339)
6. UTEP 4567 (air rifle 2302, smallbore 2265)

Also, check out the CRCA rankings below (according to the NCAA website, they were last updated January 30, 2023.)

Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association Top 20 Rankings

1. Texas Christian University
2. University of Alaska-Fairbanks
3. West Virginia University
4. Kentucky
5. Ole Miss
6. Nebraska
7. Air Force
8. Murray State
9. Navy
10. Akron
11. Ohio State
12. Memphis
13. North Carolina State
14. Morehead State
15. Jacksonville State
16. Georgia Southern
17. Army
18. North Georgia
19. University of Tennessee-Martin
20. The Citadel

Above rankings are current as of Monday, February 6.

See the full 2023 Patriot Rifle Conference Championship match scorecard at the NCAA website.

Learn more about each rifle team:

• TCU
• Alaska-Fairbanks
• Nebraska
• Air Force
• Ohio State
• UTEP

Up next for TCU rifle is a NCAA qualifier match, which will be held Saturday, February 18, at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. This competition will help the NCAA determine the top eight collegiate rifle programs in the nation.

Next month, the top eight collegiate rifle programs and individual qualifiers will attend the 2023 NCAA Rifle Championship. This year’s tournament will be conducted March 10-11 at the University of Akron’s James A. Rhodes Arena in Ohio.