2024 CRCA Assistant Coach of the Year
Former NRA All-American and five-time Scholastic All-American Abby Buesseler serves as the assistant coach for the Georgia Southern rifle squad. Buesseler, who graduated from Ole Miss in 2022 with a degree in biochemistry, is pursuing a Master’s degree in public health at Georgia Southern.
In her first year as the assistant, Buesseler helped the Eagles improve by almost 42 points in team aggregate average (27 points in smallbore; 15 in air rifle) as they claimed the Southern Conference overall and smallbore titles. As a team, Georgia Southern had its highest ranking in program history. The Eagles were led by Addy Burrow, who recorded the top 12 highest individual aggregate scores in school history, set the school record in smallbore with a 589 and earned SoCon Smallbore and Air Rifle Athlete of the Year honors. Burrow was named an All-American in smallbore, air rifle and combined en route to earning a spot in the NCAA Air Rifle Championship. At the 2023 SoCon Championships, Amy Visconti won the smallbore title as the Eagles took all thre medal spots.Â
In her second year, the Eagles went 15-2 overall and swept all three titles at the  Southern Conference Championship, a first in the modern history of the SoCon. The squad was ranked as high as third in the country and finished as a top 10 team in the country, just missing the NCAA Championships. Four Eagles qualified as All-Americans with Emma Pohlmann winning SoCon Athlete of the Year in smallbore and air rifle while winning both individual titles. The team as a whole improved its smallbore team average over 35 points and its air rifle team average nearly 33 points for an aggregate increase of over 68 points. For her efforts, she was voted the Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association (CRCA) Assistant Coach of the Year.
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.
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.
YEAR-BY-YEAR AVERAGES
| Year |
 Smallbore |
 Air Rifle |
 Aggregate |
| 2017-18 |
 576.4 |
 586.9 |
 1163.2 |
| 2018-19 |
 577.2 |
 586.1 |
 1163.4 |
| 2019-20 |
 582.3 |
 589.2 |
 1171.6 |
| 2020-21 |
 581.4 |
 590.2 |
 1171.6 |
| 2021-22 |
 583.9 |
 589.0 |
 1172.9 |
CAREER HIGHS
Smallbore:Â 590, at Army (Jan. 29, 2022)
Air Rifle: 597, vs. WVU (11/2/19)
Aggregate: 1183 vs. WVU (11/2/19)
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