STATESBORO - Former NRA All-American and five-time Scholastic All-American Abby Buesseler will serve as the graduate assistant coach for the Georgia Southern rifle squad, as announced Tuesday by head coach Soren Butler. Buesseler, who graduated from Ole Miss in 2022 with a degree in biochemistry, will pursue a Master's degree in public health at Georgia Southern.

"I'm very happy that Abby has decided to join our staff," Butler said. "Abby is just moving on from a very decorated collegiate career and will bring an immense amount of knowledge and skill to our team. Abby is an incredible person and was paramount in Ole Miss's rise to prominence these past few years. I'm so glad she'll be joining us in Statesboro, I really look forward to working with her."

Buesseler took advantage of the NCAA's COVID-19 exemption and returned to Oxford for a fifth year in 2021-22. She capped her career in style, averaging 583.9 in smallbore, which included a career-high 590 at Army, 589.0 in air rifle and 1,172.9 aggregate. She was a second-team all-conference selection in smallbore and a combined honorable mention selection who took silver medalist honors in smallbore at the GARC Championships. Ole Miss qualified for the NCAA Championships, finishing seventh.

As a senior in 2020-21, Buesseler was tabbed as Ole Miss' nominee for the 2020 SEC Boyd H. McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. She helped lead the Rebels to a third-place finish at the 2021 NCAA Rifle Championship, firing an aggregate score of 1170. She earned GARC Smallbore honorable mention honors and was named GARC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

As a junior, she showcased one of the most dominant, record-breaking seasons in program history as she qualified for the NCAA Rifle Championships with a 583 smallbore. Buesseler was named to three All-American teams, including NRA First-Team Smallbore All-American by finishing as a top-10 national shooter, CRCA Second-Team Smallbore All-American, and CRCA Third-Team Aggregate All-American. She also earned a spot on three all-conference teams, including GARC Smallbore Second Team, GARC Combined Second Team and GARC Air Rifle Honorable Mention. Buesseler also excelled in the classroom as she was named Ole Miss Rifle's Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was named a CRCA Scholastic All-American for the third time.

As a sophomore, she led the team in smallbore with a 577.2 average and finished fourth on the team in air rifle (586.1 average) and second in aggregate (1163.4). She also was named Ole Miss Rifle's Scholar-Athlete of the Year. As a freshman, she was named GARC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a CRCA Scholar All-American.

"I'm very excited to support the rifle student-athletes at Georgia Southern," Buesseler said. "I'm grateful to Soren and the NCAA for this opportunity and I can't wait to meet the team and get to work."

A native of Stacy, Minnesota, she was a smallbore four-position state champion. A member of the Minnesota Centershots, she shot on the NRA National Championship Team and was a member of the U.S. Army Junior Air Rifle National Championship Team. She was also a member of the CMP 3PAR National Championship Team and took third place at the USAS Junior Olympics.