Gabriella Sprague during the air rifle portion of the match on Oct. 4, 2026. Ohio State fell to No. 3 TCU 4684-4724 and the No. 8 Navy Academy 4684-4743. Credit: Cassandra D’Angelo | Sports Photo Editor.

The rifle would not stop swaying.?

With my cheek pressed against the stock and my eye peering through the sight, I tried to aim the barrel toward the center of the target.

The more I tried to keep it still, the more I noticed every movement away from the bullseye.

For me, hitting one accurate shot required complete concentration. For an Ohio State rifle athlete that level of focus is only the beginning.

Ohio State rifle athletes repeat that precision 60 times over 75 minutes, managing not only their breathing, balance and positioning, but also their strain that changes throughout a match. For the Buckeyes, success depends less on producing one perfect shot than on finding the focus to reproduce it again and again.

“That is the really hard thing about this sport, is stacking those 10s on top of each other,” senior Gabriella Sprague said. “You don’t know whenever you’re competing which shot is going to make or break it.”

Before the start of the match, rifle athletes receive a 15-minute sighting period to handle their air rifles, check equipment, confirm their zero and find the most comfortable positioning. During this period, athletes can fire an unlimited number of shots to settle in.

“It’s using that 15 minutes to get themselves mentally prepared to go out and compete,” head coach Ryan Tanoue said.

Some athletes sit silently in their chairs, while others immediately begin taking aim.?

Freshman Annika Cry said the start of her process consists of finding her point of aim, adjusting her cheek placement and setting her foot positioning.

After Cry feels comfortable, she steps away from her shooting stand and takes a break, slowing her heart rate and finding a good mental space.

With her cheek pressed against the side of the rifle, feet set at a shoulders width apart and one eye focused through the sights of the rifle, Cry works efficiently through the 60-shots while trying to maintain the identical positioning she established during the sighting period.?

“At the 30-shot mark, I take a break,” Cry said. “I just step off the line for about 10 minutes, and then I get back in there.”

Maintaining consistent positioning and focus becomes harder as the shots add up.

“The last shots are the worst because you’re nervous,” Cry said. “You can feel your heartbeat.”

Cry said an air rifle match can become physically demanding, especially while wearing thick, rigid shooting jackets and pants made of a stiff leather. The material limits mobility while wearing the suit, forcing the rifle athletes to take short and stiff steps, something she said shooters call the “duck walk”.

An inaccurate shot doesn’t change the target, but it does force the shooter to mentally reset before aiming downrange again.

After getting the chance to take a few shots myself, I began to understand how difficult it could be to maintain that level of focus.?

Standing felt normal, but aiming through the sight was a completely different experience. Every breath or slight change in balance made the bullseye seem as if it couldn’t stay in one place.

The focus required to shoot consistently well can be hard to appreciate for someone who hasn’t stood behind the firing line.

Former Ohio State rifle athlete and current sports information director Paige Hollowell said spectators can view live targets and footage of athletes on the range from the basement of Converse Hall during home matches in Columbus.

From a spectator’s perspective, the physical and mental precision behind each shot may be easy to overlook. Shooters appear nearly motionless until their effort is reduced to a spot on a screen.

Behind the screen lie adjustments in breathing, balance, positioning and the focus required to hit the target.

What changes, Tanoue said, is the shooter’s mental approach as the match progresses.

From the first shot to the 60th, Ohio State’s challenge is not simply finding the bullseye, but consistently finding it again.

“When you try to fight it, your heart rate just gets worse, your shakiness gets worse,” Sprague said. “You just have to shoot with it.”