A total of four UTM representatives combined to win five postseason honors as the 2020 Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Rifle Championships came to a close today at Skyhawk Rifle Range.
Day two of the league’s marquee event featured air rifle relays, as UTM compiled 2,319 points to finish fourth in that portion of the championship.
Rachel Sprague continued her remarkable weekend with a team-best score of 584 (97-98-98-97-96-98), leading the team in air rifle for the second time this season (first since Nov. 2 at Morehead State).
Jennifer Plocinik wasn’t too far behind with a tally of 583 points (95-98-98-96-98-98) while Kaitlin Korinek tallied a 580 (95-97-97-96-97-98). Nick Fares produced a score of 573 after relays of 96-98-93-93-97-96 and Jacob Osborne completed the team scoring with 572 points (91-97-98-95-95-96).
Combined with a 2,269 smallbore tally from Saturday, the Skyhawks posted an aggregate score of 4,588 to place fourth in the field. Jacksonville State (2,354 points) won today’s air rifle championship while Morehead State earned its first-ever OVC overall title with 4,643 total points from the two-day event.
Individually, Sprague’s 1,162 aggregate was the fourth-best score in the field while Korinek’s 1,151 also cracked the top-10. Plocinik contributed a 1,145 combined score while Osborne and Fares both accumulated matching 1,130 scores.
At the conclusion of the championship, the league announced its All-OVC recipients and UTM racked up the hardware. Sprague was named to the All-OVC smallbore first team to bring her All-OVC tally up to four through her sophomore season. A senior from Irwin, Pennsylvania, Korinek brought home her seventh career All-OVC award with a mention on the smallbore second team. Fares earned a spot on the OVC’s All-Newcomer team in both air rifle and smallbore while MJ Vowell was voted as OVC Coach of the Year, joining Bob Beard (2000, 2007, 2011, 2014) as the only Skyhawk recipients to ever win that distinct honor in the sport of rifle.
In other major awards, Michael Dietz from Jacksonville State was named OVC Air Rifle Athlete of the Year, Murray State’s Matias Kiuru nabbed OVC Smallbore Athlete of the Year honors and Elizabeth Plecity from Morehead State won OVC Freshman of the Year accolades.
UTM will take two weeks off before heading to Murray, Kentucky for a NCAA Qualifier on Sunday, Feb. 23.
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