TCU rifle will be one of two all-female teams to participate at the 2013 National Championships.

The team is no stranger to competing against co-ed or male teams because TCU is only one of four major teams to have an all-female squad, coach Karen Monez said.

The other three are UTEP, Ole Miss and Nebraska, with Nebraska competing in the March 8-9 competition in Columbus, Ohio.

For the shooters, though, there is no special recognition or discrimination for being an all-female squad.

“I don’t really think about it because it’s normal. I’ve always shot against girls and guys,” freshman Megan Lee said. 

The university’s rifle team has been all-female since the 1970s due to Title IX, Ross Bailey, associate director of athletics, said.

The sport requires muscle, breathing and heart rate control regardless of sex, he said.

“The trigger knows no gender,” Bailey said.

Senior shooter Sarah Scherer said competing against male competitors is not a factor to her.

“I think, you know, just because we are an all-female team in a coed sport, that kind of attests to what coach has done in the past few years,” she said. “When it comes to actually competing, there really isn’t a difference.

“Male and female bodies have pros and cons compared to strengths and weaknesses. I don’t ever think about that or take [that] into consideration,” she said. “People are people, and my competitors are also my friends. You just kind of work with that.”

In order for the university to meet Title IX compliance, the rifle team must be all-female, Bailey said. He said the university meets the requirement by having a proportionate number of female athletes to the student body population.