Mount Aloysius College Repeats as Mid-Atlantic Rifle Conference Tournament Champions

CAMBRIDGE, Ma. – The Mid-Atlantic Rifle Conference (MAC) has concluded the 2025-2026 season with the completion of its conference championship tournament this past weekend. On February 28th and March 1st, six teams and an additional six at-large individuals converged on the MIT Rifle Range in Cambridge, Massachusetts to crown the MAC regular season and championship award-winners.

Earning back-to-back team titles across the board in smallbore, air rifle, and aggregate were the Mount Aloysius College Mounties. Returning four of five 2025 conference champions to their 2026 roster, the Mounties took a dominant lead in the smallbore event with a score of 2245, 46 points ahead of second place. They continued their lead with air rifle on day two, as their 2313 team score made them the only team to fire above 2300. This gave them a commanding final aggregate of 4558 – one point ahead of their 2025 championship-winning total. 

Individually, Molly Miller repeated as Individual Air Rifle Champion with a score of 589 and took second place for individual aggregate (1147). Miller also earned Athlete of the Year, awarded to the athlete with the highest two-gun aggregate average during the regular season, and the Air Rifle Achievement Award for the single highest regular-season air rifle score (591). Freshman James Stevens took second in individual smallbore after firing a personal record (572). Four Mounties were named to at least one All-Conference team.

In the team aggregate, MIT took second place with a score of 4454. They are the only other team to have placed in all three team categories, earning third in smallbore (2177) and second in air rifle (2277) with their second highest team scores of the season. Individually, sophomore Eleanor Yang repeated as the third place individual for both air rifle and aggregate, with aggregate coming down to a 2x tiebreaker between her and Mount Aloysius College’s Kayla Trinkle. Yang was also named to both All-Conference 1st Teams, while Engineers freshman William Knowlton was named to both All-Rookie teams.

Overall third place team went to the University of Rhode Island, who fired a score of 4437. The Rhody Rams were the only club level program to qualify a full team to the 2026 MAC tournament after a slow start to the season missing key returners due to illness, relying heavily on a rookie-dominant squad. They also took second place overall for smallbore, firing a season second-best 2199. Individually, Sophia Wood led the team in both events, including a smallbore score of 565 which was good for an individual third-place finish. Three Rams made at least one All-Conference team, with Wood and Alexander Travison being named to the team in both events, while another three were named to at least one All-Rookie team.

Taking the team third place award for air rifle was John Jay College. The Bloodhounds also own the Senior of the Year, awarded to the highest-averaging fourth-year athlete in two-gun aggregate, and the MAC Elite Scholar, awarded to the athlete competing at the championship tournament with the highest undergraduate GPA – both going to graduating senior Danny Canning. Canning and freshman Mahek Dalwala also earned 2nd Team honors for air rifle.

The Schreiner Mountaineers, though not placing in the team category, took home a number of awards as freshman Molly Mitchell shined at the tournament. Mitchell earned the Individual Smallbore Champion and Individual Aggregate Champion titles with scores of 577 and 1163, respectively, as well as a second place finish in air rifle (586). She was also named Rookie of the Year, going to the first-year athlete with the highest two-gun average during the season, and took home the Smallbore Achievement Award for the highest regular-season smallbore score (579). Two Mountaineers made the All-Conference teams as well, with Mitchell earning 1st Team honors in both events and Cora Anderson being named to the 2nd team for both. Christian Nickerson was named to the All-Rookie team in smallbore and air rifle.

Schreiner also earned Most Improved Air Rifle Team, improving their average by 123 points from last season. Rounding out the Most Improved awards was SUNY Maritime. As a team, the Privateers improved their smallbore average by over 200 points. Individually, Most Improved Smallbore Individual went to Sharath Peddapalli and Air Rifle went to Nikolaos Bennett. Bennett, making sure to leave no doubt that he deserved the award, fired a personal record of over 40 points in his at-large appearance at the MAC tournament for air rifle. 

Numerous athletes fired season or career best scores at the tournament. Also firing a personal record from the Privateers roster was rookie Abigail Wells, who broke 500 for the first time in her at-large air rifle appearance. Coast Guard’s Michael Perez eclipsed the 500 mark in smallbore for the first time during his at-large performance as well. From Norwich, a pair of freshmen fired personal records to help lead the Cadets to a new program record of 2243 in air rifle: Katie Gillooly with a score of 575, and Magali Delarosa Cuenca who fired a 564. The Mid-Atlantic Rifle Conference looks forward to an exciting 2026-2027 season as many of these exceptional athletes will return alongside newcomers who will continue to break barriers and set higher standards for both their programs and the conference.