The South Florida Bulls rifle team represented the University of South Florida in the sport of rifle. The program consisted of a men's and women's co-ed team which competed in NCAA Division I. The rifle team only existed for five years, but was very successful in that time, earning three top-three team finishes in NCAA National Championship events and winning two individual national titles. Roger Johnson served as head coach for the team's entire existence.
History
The USF rifle team first competed in the NCAA Championship in the 1985–86 season.[2] Since so few schools sponsored rifle at the time, all teams that sponsored it were eligible for the championship. The Bulls finished tied for 5th out of the 7 teams that competed in the 1986 NCAA Championship. They returned to the event in 1987 and 1988, where they finished in third place both times. They also won the NRA Smallbore Intercollegiate Sectionals in 1987.[3] In 1989 the team had their best finish ever, taking second place in the NCAA Championship.[4] The program never competed as a team again after the 1989 championship, with the athletic department citing budget problems as the reason.
Athletes
USF Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Michelle Scarborough won two individual national titles with the Bulls rifle team, winning championships in the 1989 air rifle event and the 1990 smallbore event (smallbore is considered the more prestigious of the two events in college riflery).[5] Rifle is the only NCAA sponsored sport where men and women directly compete against each other, meaning that Scarborough was not only the best woman at these events, but shot better than all the men as well.[6] Scarborough's 1989 championship in air rifle was the highest score for both men and women ever recorded in the event, with an unprecedented 399 out of a possible 400 points. Her record stood until the event format changed from 40 shots to 60 shots in 2005.[7]
