NCAA rifle athletes compete in two different disciplines, air rifle and smallbore. Morehead State University's Ryan Hinson is one of the best at both. 

This past summer at the USA Shooting National Championships, Hinson made the finals and finished fourth in smallbore and third in air rifle. 

"Those were good finishes for me. I had good performances in both guns," says Hinson. "Making finals in both guns has been a goal for a couple years now." 

Hinson likes competing in both guns for different reasons. 

In smallbore athletes compete in three different positions (kneeling, prone and standing) making it a more technical discipline while air rifle is more of a mental challenge having to repeat the same thing over and over again. 

"I like all the technical aspects of smallbore. There is a lot more movement. Air rifle is all about how you stay focused mentally, and that's something I like to play around with," he said.

Hinson, a math major, from Ridgefield, Wash., came to MSU for rifle, a sport he says is often misunderstood.

"There is a lot of time, effort, and precision that go into our day-to-day training. The sport isn't as physically demanding as others but technically it is the most difficult by far." 

Some days Hinson will spend an hour repeating the same thirty-second process to get something right because, "any changes in your position can cause tension or an imbalance," he says. "And millimeters are the difference." 

Since coming to Morehead State, Hinson has joined the Christian ministry group Athletes in Action which teaches students to perform with God in mind.

"Once you're able to focus on the idea of performing for God, a large weight that comes with competition comes off your shoulders," he said. 

With that mindset, Hinson would like to make All-American in both guns. This summer, he hopes to make a junior development team or the junior national team and compete in international matches. His ultimate goal is to compete in the Olympics.

"That's definitely something I'm shooting for," he said. "No pun intended."