1980 NCAA Rifle Championship

Tournament information
Sport	Collegiate rifle shooting
Location	Johnson City, TN
Host(s)	East Tennessee State University
Venue(s)	ETSU Athletic Center
Participants	10
Final positions
Champions	Tennessee Tech (1st title)
1st runners-up	West Virginia
2nd runners-up	East Tennessee State
Tournament statistics
Smallbore	Rod Fitz-Randolph, TTU
Air rifle	Rod Fitz-Randolph, TTU

The 1980 NCAA Rifle Championship was the first annual tournament to determine the national champion of co-ed NCAA collegiate rifle shooting. The championship was held at the ETSU Athletic Center at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee during March 1980.^[1] Prior to 1980, a collegiate rifle championship was held yearly by the National Rifle Association.

Tennessee Tech, with a team score of 6,201, claimed their first national title. West Virginia finished in second with 6,150. The Golden Eagles were coached by James Newkirk.

Rod Fitz-Randolph, from Tennessee Tech, claimed the individual titles for both smallbore and air rifle.

Qualification

Since there is only one national collegiate championship for rifle shooting, all NCAA rifle programs (whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III) were eligible. A total of 10 teams ultimately contested this championship.

Results

• Scoring: The championship consisted of 120 shots by each competitor in smallbore and 40 shots per competitor in air rifle.

Team title

Rank	Team	Points
	Tennessee Tech	6,201
	West Virginia	6,150
	East Tennessee State	6,118
4	Murray State	6,097
5	Eastern Kentucky	5,959
6	Navy	5,957
7	Army Western Kentucky	5,901
8	Alaska–Fairbanks	5,878
9	Air Force	5,797

References