The Murray State Rifle team earned their sixth consecutive Ohio Valley Conference championship and swept the all-conference awards on Sunday, Feb. 8, in Martin, Tennessee. This marks the Racers’ 20th and head coach Alan Lollar’s 12th conference title.
The Racers entered the 2026 OVC Rifle Championship as one of the strongest national programs, holding the 11th place position in the standings. Following a successful 2024-25 season that saw the Racers go 8-3 with a perfect 2-0 conference record, along with posting a 4719.934 aggregate score in competition, Murray State looked to their new and returning shooters to lead them to further success.
Sophomore shooter Carlotta Salafia proved herself the most decorated member of the Racers in the 2025-26 season, securing awards in multiple categories. The Pezzana, Italy, native won the 2026 OVC Air Rifle Athlete of the Year award, as well as a placement on the OVC Air Rifle First Team. Salafia also secured a spot on the Smallbore First Team. Salafia matched multiple personal bests set last year at the Racers’ match against Memphis on Wednesday, Feb. 9, including match highs in both air rifle and aggregate, with 599 and 1,189 in each respective category. Salafia’s 1183.334 average aggregate score on the season is 15th nationally.
This success follows a 2024-25 season which also contained numerous accolades. In the previous year, Salafia won OVC Freshman of the Year and Air Rifle Co-Athlete of the Year, as well as a spot in both divisions’ Newcomer and First Teams. Salafia was also awarded for her academic excellence, becoming a CRCA Scholastic All-American. Salafia also placed in the top five in both nights of the OVC Championship, with a fourth-place finish on night one, and a second-place finish on night two.
Freshman shooter Lea Soulé also dominated her division in the 2025-26 season, winning OVC Smallbore Athlete of the Year. In addition, Soulé won the division’s Freshman of the Year award, along with a spot on both the Air Rifle and Smallbore First Teams. Soulé also secured a spot on both the Air Rifle and Smallbore Newcomer Teams. Soulé dominated the OVC Championship with a second-place finish on night one and a fifth-place finish the night after. This performance follows a Jan. 4 outing where she scored a career-high 596 in air rifle.
There were many other individual performances throughout the season worthy of mention. Along with Salafia and Soulé, junior shooter Emma Lawrence found a spot on the Air Rifle First Team, along with being one of two members of the team to register a perfect 4.0 GPA. Joining Lawrence on the team was junior shooter Caroline Martin, who would also make the conference’s Smallbore Second Team. Martin also played an important role in securing the OVC title for the Racers, as she tied for fifth place in the second day of the championship match.
Freshman shooter Abby Ballard also played a major part in securing the conference championship for the Racers, placed on both the Smallbore and Air Rifle Second Teams, while also winning a spot on the Newcomer Teams for both divisions. She would also place in the top 10 for both categories in the championship game, placing eighth and ninth, respectively.
The Racers now have two final matches before the national qualifiers to prepare for a national playoff push. The team posted a 4721 aggregate over the University of Memphis’ 4715 on Wednesday, Feb. 11 at the R.F. Fogelman Family Rifle Range.