— From WVU Athletic Communications
COLUMBUS, Ohio — For the 21st time in program history, the West Virginia rifle team won the NCAA Rifle National Championship after two days of competition inside the Covelli Center in Columbus on Saturday.
The win marks the second straight title for the Mountaineers and the second straight season WVU has come from behind to claim it. This season, the Mountaineers came back from down three points.
Last season, the team overcame a five-point deficit after smallbore.
West Virginia entered the final day of competition in fourth place and trailed by three points to Ole Miss and trailed TCU and Nebraska by just one point. WVU finished the day with a 2395 air rifle score, which matches the NCAA record.
WVU finished with a 4748 aggregate score, which is an NCAA Championship record, to beat runner-up TCU, which finished with 4741. Kentucky finished in third place with a 4736.
Lake also became just the fifth Mountaineer to be named the NCAA National Championships Most Outstanding Performer in program history. He is the first to earn the honor since Mary Tucker in 2024. He scored the top mark of the event with a 1194 after a second-place qualifying mark of 595 in smallbore and a third-place mark of 599 in air rifle.
Camryn Camp and Lauri Syrja joined Lake in the opening session. Camp fired a 598 while Syrja managed a 594. Jennifer Kocher and Oceanne Muller finished off the title race in the second relay. The pair hit marks of 599 to join Lake in the air rifle finals.
In the final, Lake took home his second bronze medal of the championship after taking third in smallbore yesterday. Muller finished fourth-place finish while Kocher took home seventh.
At 44 NCAA National Championships, the Mountaineers have now finished inside the top two 31 times, including 21 titles and 10 runner-up finishes. The 2026 championship marks the second straight for the Mountaineers and the back-to-back title since the 2017 season, which marked the end of five straight titles for WVU.
Coach Jon Hammond has won eight national championships in 20 seasons at the helm of the Mountaineer program.
West Virginia completed the 2025-26 season with an 18-1 mark in the regular season and a 5-0 record in the Great America Rifle Conference.
The 2026 NCAA Rifle National Champions also claimed the program’s 18th GARC Conference Championship and 17th GARC Regular Season title this season.
Final Team Standings
West Virginia – 4748
TCU – 4741
Kentucky – 4736
Nebraska – 4736
Ole Miss – 4728
Navy – 4722
Alaska Fairbanks – 4718
Georgia Southern – 4717