Alliance High senior Eli Rischling has signed with the Memphis Tigers for rifle shooting beginning in the fall of 2014. Rischling, thus far, has won an astonishing twelve state championships, and one national championship in his shooting career, and says he chose Memphis because they are a top-level program in Division I college athletics. “They have a really good shooting program,” said Rischling, “I want to win, and Memphis’s program just seemed like the right fit.”

Rischling contributes his success thus far to his shooting coach Mike Yokum, who is an elite, college-level rifle coach from Beatrice, Nebraska, and his parents, Dave and Shawna, who have traveled with, and supported Eli every step of his way. “Without them, I don’t see any of this being possible. They took me to my competitions, and their support has been tremendous.”

The first item on Rischling’s agenda is to win an NCAA Championship, in which the Memphis Tigers fell short in the previous years. Rischling looks to contribute to the team substantially, in turn, garnering the Tigers a championship. Later, Rischling hopes to achieve his life-long goal of becoming a member of Team USA, as did former AHS grad Frank Thompson. Rischling has participated in a few training session at the U.S. Olympic Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado within the past couple of years.

This fall, Rischling will enroll at Memphis with a major in accounting, and plans to start his first season as a Tiger in mid-August.