Walt Rybka, an accomplished and respected member of the shooting community, is in his 20th year heading up the Morehead State rifle program.

A two-time OVC Coach of the Year (1997-98 and 1999-2000), he has guided MSU to a national ranking during several seasons as head mentor.

Rybka also helped lead  Elizabeth Lyon (2009) and Ethan Cole (2014) to the NCAA Championships.

A life member of the National Rifle Association, Rybka has also earned several honors and distinctions in the shooting community. He is an associate member of USA Shooting and earned the Distinguished in Pistol Honor from CMP. He is also a Master Instructor for hunter education in Rowan County.

Rybka first began competing in pistol at the age of 13 and has continued to hone his skills ever since. In 1997, he was crowned the Kentucky State Air Pistol Champion.

He is a 1971 graduate of Eastern Michigan University with a degree in industrial education/secondary education. He also earned his master's degree in education in 1974 from EMU. He relocated to Kentucky in 1980 and has since been involved in a variety of trades, including extensive work with U.S. Forest Service.

Captain Hank Patton, MSU's original coach, brought him in as an assistant in 1993-94 to help head up the re-birth of the program. Rybka took over as head coach in 1995-96. During Rybka's tenure, numerous athletes have won conference and national rifle awards as well as the 1998-99 squad owning the best GPA among all collegiate teams.