UAF names new head coach of vaunted rifle program

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU/KTVF) - The University of Alaska Fairbanks has announced that Randi Loudin will be taking over as the new head coach of the rifle program, putting her in charge of a team that has seen years of success under former head coach Will Anti.

Loudin currently serves as the assistant coach for the Nanooks rifle team, a position she has served in for the last five years.

Her rifle career began around seventh grade at a local shooting club in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where she grew up.

After graduating from Ole Miss in 2019, where she shot on the university rifle team for four years, Loudin took a position as a graduate assistant on the Nanooks rifle team under head coach Lane Lewis.

Anti took over as head coach the following season, which saw Loudin move up to the assistant coach position.

She now takes the reins as head coach of a program steeped in prior success.

“It was a little intimidating to start,” Loudin said. “I think when I started really considering being a head coach — even here at UAF — the first question is how do you follow up such a successful program?"

Under Anti’s leadership, the Nanooks made it to the national championship five times. Three of those appearances ended in third-place finishes, and in 2023, the Nanooks took the national title.

While Loudin was part of those successes, she said she also learned a lot while working with Anti.

“Just gathering up the teams and making some really great progress with the program,” she expressed.

“[I] learned a lot about how to run a championship-level team,” she added. “I learned that if you really want to be the best person, like on the range in the room, whatever it is, you can’t be outworked and so it’s really hard to not be the top performer or to not be doing the best at your job.”

Her decision to stay with UAF in her new role was an “an easy sell” because “after being here for six years, it definitely became home,” she said.

“It almost felt like I was picking up where I left off as an athlete,” Loudin said, reflecting on how her coaching skills have developed.

“I learned I had all these experiences, learned all these things, but as soon as I stepped into coaching, it was still ... I’m learning and I’m figuring out how other athletes learn and learning things alongside Will.”

With Anti retiring, Loudin said some of her biggest goals to start the season include getting the team on a good routine and “setting up some systems to where — when they do come into the range and they have that three hours of training, things are taken care of."

“They don’t feel like they have to stress in the background about some of the school or you know, what they’re going to eat for dinner,” she explained.

Other goals include keeping up the recruiting effort that Anti had put in and getting out into the Alaska shooting community.

“Alaska is still a great option and one of the best options for coaching,” she said. “I think this is the right opportunity and one that I’m excited for and feel like I’m ready for.”

She officially becomes head coach on July 1.

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