Shooting Wire

FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA - The National Rifle Association has announced that this year’s NRA Intercollegiate Pistol Championships will be held March 10-14 at Fort Benning, Georgia. Pistol team members from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will be defending the NRA national championship title, which they won in last year’s team competition held at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

MIT Pistol Coach Will Hart, recipient of NRA’s 2007 Distinguished College Coach award, said that, “This year’s team has only three members returning from last year. We lost 10 of our shooters because they were seniors and graduated. But all of our current shooters have really stepped up their training, and our older shooters have been a great help to the new shooters. The team has exceeded all of my expectations in terms of performance.” Coach Hart further commented that, “We’ve got a new young team, but they are dedicated and have great team spirit. We’re going to be even stronger next year and in the following years.”

This annual championship determines the national individual and team champions in NRA Intercollegiate Pistol competition. Events include NRA Intercollegiate Free Pistol, Standard Pistol, Open Air Pistol, Women’s Air Pistol, and Women’s Sport Pistol.

Qualifications for an invitation to participate in the national championship are determined from pistol scores fired in the annual NRA Intercollegiate Pistol Sectionals held throughout the United States between January and February each year. To be eligible to participate in the championships, a shooter must be a regularly enrolled undergraduate student who complies with the eligibility rules of his or her institution.

In addition to MIT, the other team qualifiers are: the United States Naval Academy, the United States Military Academy, the United States Merchant Marine Academy, the United States Coast Guard Academy, The Citadel, Ohio State University, Texas A&M University, Missouri State University, University of Utah, University of Texas-Austin, and North Georgia College and State University.

These prestigious pistol championships attract collegiate competitors from schools across the country. In last year’s competition, more than 90 shooters represented 16 educational institutions, and four ROTC teams participated in the matches. MIT posted an impressive team aggregate score of 6372 to take the national title, overcoming the defending champions from the U.S. Military Academy, which posted a score of 6365. The U.S. Naval Academy placed third in the team awards with an aggregate score of 6322.

For more information about NRA's Collegiate Shooting Programs, visit the NRA’s Web site at www.nrahq.org/compete/coldir.asp, call (703) 267-1473, or e-mail collegiate@nrahq.org.