Put down your men’s college basketball brackets for a few moments and read about a team that has made NCAA history in another college sport—competitive shooting. 

The Texas Christian University Horned Frog Rifle Team won its second NCAA Rifle National in the past 3 years last weekend, posting a 2-day aggregate score of 4,676-270X. And not only did it surpass the shooting prowess of defending champion University of Kentucky—a school that recruits heavily and offers all-inclusive scholarships for shooters—it was with a team comprised entirely of women shooters. And, if you haven't guessed, these girls can shoot. 

In case you weren't aware, in collegiate shooting there’s no such thing as separate men's teams and women’s teams. Most teams—with the exception of TCU—are co-ed.  Coming in to the 2-day NCAA Rifle Championships held March 9-10 in Columbus, Ohio, the Horned Frogs stood undefeated for the season.

In addition to taking the team national championship by a 15-point margin over Kentucky, the Frogs took home the air rifle title after firing a 2,353, topping West Virginia’s team score of 2,350. Kentucky led after Day No. 1's small-bore competition, but it couldn’t hold off the Frogs’ charge as they shot 2,353 in air rifle.

Rounding out this year's NCAA Rifle Championship (in order) were: University of Alaska-Fairbanks (UAF), University of Texas-El Paso, West Virginia University, Jacksonville State and University of Nevada. The field of eight teams was determined by regular season aggregate scores.

TCU's all-woman squad is comprised of Sarah Scherer, Mattie Brogdon, Sarah Beard, Caitlin Morrissey and Catherine Green and is coached by Karen Monez.

In my many years of covering competitive shooting, I’ve concluded—generally speaking, of course—that young women are more receptive to coaching and instruction than young men are. Girls and young women also tend to focus better and are better disciplined, both traits extremely vital to good target shooting. 

What’s your experience with female shooters?