The Mid-Atlantic Rifle Conference (MAC) is gearing up for the 2026-27 season with the addition of two new members: Indiana Tech and Hillsdale College. They join the conference’s existing eight teams for a total of 10 programs vying for the conference championship, to be awarded in February.
Hillsdale College, out of Michigan, made quite the splash last season with strong showings in the Western Intercollegiate Rifle Conference and at the ASSA Intercollegiate Rifle Club National Championships despite being a young program. The Chargers were led by Benjamin Roche, who fired scores above 590 in air rifle several times throughout the season and eclipsed the 580 mark in smallbore. Roche’s shooting prowess ultimately earned him the national titles in smallbore and two-gun aggregate as well as multiple ASSA All-Star First Team honors.
Indiana Tech, hailing from Fort Wayne, Indiana, is the second new member joining the MAC this year. A new program on the collegiate rifle scene, the Warriors head into their inaugural season this fall. They are the first rifle program sponsored by an institution in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)—as opposed to the NCAA—to join the MAC, and currently the only such program nationally.
This season also sees eight veteran programs returning in the MAC. The top NCAA Division III program in the country and two-time aggregate MAC champion Mount Aloysius College will look to make its title run a three-peat as it returns a full scoring squad from the 2025-26 season alongside three rookie athletes. Also in the mix are last year’s podium finishers MIT and the University of Rhode Island, who will both be returning many of their starters. The pair accounted for a substantial share of the All-MAC Smallbore and Air Rifle teams this past season.
The conference season starts Sept. 19 with both Hillsdale College and Indiana Tech heading to Ohio. The Chargers will compete in the CMP Monthly Air Rifle Match to be used as a postal against MIT, while the Warriors head to Akron for back-to-back days at the Zippy Open Tournament to be used as postals against both MIT and Norwich. The first shoulder-to-shoulder MAC match is set for Sept. 26 as MIT competes at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont. That annual rivalry between the Cadets and the Engineers is sure to be an exciting opener for both teams.
Other notable dates this fall include Oct. 24-25, when Schreiner University makes the trek from Texas to New England for a full weekend of matches against four conference foes. Dec. 5 brings John Jay College and SUNY Maritime together in the Big Apple Classic, a decades-running air rifle-only tournament between New York City-based rifle programs. The next day, the New York programs will face off with the University of Rhode Island in what has become an annual tradition for the trio, finishing up the fall half of the rifle season.
The spring semester is not without its share of excitement as MIT will host its annual Beanpot tournament for the 37th year. The field features MIT, Norwich, the Coast Guard Academy and the University of Rhode Island. Norwich and Coast Guard have 10 Beanpot titles apiece, while URI looks to earn its first. Not to be overlooked is the NCAA Championship Qualifying Match, which will be held Feb. 20 for all NCAA rifle programs across all divisions. That date also doubles as the final weekend of competition for the Mid-Atlantic Rifle Conference regular season—while the NCAA programs will be seeking invitations to the national tournament, all 10 MAC teams will be working to finalize their spots in the 2027 Mid-Atlantic Rifle Conference Championship tournament, to be held Feb. 27-28.
Stay up to date with the Mid-Atlantic Rifle Conference all season long on Facebook, Instagram or at midatlanticrifle.org.
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