This season, gold medal Olympian Will Shaner takes over as head coach of the rifle team following Rachel Martin’s resignation from the program on April 17.
Rifle is one of the most consistently successful Ole Miss athletic programs, routinely placing among the Top 10 teams in the nation in the past few seasons; the Lady Rebels’ average finishing position settles around fourth in the nation over the past four years.
Some may find Shaner only being 24 years old surprising. However, youthful leadership is not uncommon in the sport.
“Rifle has a lot of younger coaches coming out, myself and a few others,” Shaner said. “We are a little more driven, more competitive. We very much like winning, and most of us were athletes beforehand. That really helps us put our knowledge of the sport — and our drive that we had as athletes — back into a team.”
When he was in college, Shaner led the Kentucky Wildcats to four straight national championship appearances and won the individual title in 2021 and 2022. He was also a First Team All-American 11 times.
Shaner credits much of his success to the fact that he began competing in rifle when he was eight years old through the national youth development program 4-H.
“It was my grandfather and dad that saw rifle as a sport and thought that we might as well try it out,” Shaner said. “Then, it kind of kept stemming from there, from 4-H, to state matches, national matches and then eventually World Cups.”
Some of Shaner’s most impressive accomplishments took place on the international stage, where he spent 10 years competing following his debut on the Junior Olympic team. He solidified himself as one of the best male rifle shooters in the world when he won a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Shaner was an Ole Miss Rifle assistant coach under Martin for two years. He had nothing but praise for Martin and her emphasis on supporting athletes’ mental health. Though Shaner hopes to focus on competitive mindsets this season, he still seeks to incorporate many of Martin’s central tenets.
“Being a newer program compared to some other schools, we have a new way of looking at things and a new drive for this year,” Shaner said.
Shaner emphasized how supportive Ole Miss has been throughout his time in Oxford.
“I think that it’s really the community and the support we have, not just in the athletics program but also Oxford itself,” Shaner said. “This community always brings alumni back and always attracts new people — that’s why I’m here.”
One of Shaner and his squad’s most important matchups will be against No. 4 Alaska-Fairbanks, on Nov. 8. Additionally, the Lady Rebels will travel to compete against No. 3 TCU, on Nov. 16.
This season, Ole Miss will host the Patriot Rifle Conference Championship on Feb. 6-7. Assuming that Ole Miss makes it through the NCAA qualifiers later that month, the season will conclude in mid-March with the NCAA Rifle Championships in Columbus, Ohio.
