The NCAA unveiled its 2020 Rifle Championship field this afternoon and UTM senior Kaitlin Korniek earned one of four at-large qualifying spots in air rifle for the 41st installment of the national championship event.
The 2020 NCAA Rifle Championships will take place on March 13-14 at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky. A total of 48 competitors will compete in the event, with 40 competitors coming from the top eight teams selected. The remaining eight participants were selected based on the scores submitted from a designated qualifier.
Korinek joins Ohio State’s Ariel Hall, Army West Point’s Kaitlyn Kutz and NC State’s Makenzie Sheffield as air rifle qualifiers. The air rifle portion (60 shots) of the NCAA Championships will be held on Saturday, March 14.
Residing from Irwin, Pennsylvania, Korinek becomes only the sixth Skyhawk to earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Championships. She joins Joe Martin (2018), Jessica Cobb (2014), Dacotah Faught (2014), Jaymi Collar Ray (2006) and Heather Tillson (2006) on that exclusive list.
Korinek reached the postseason behind a 593 air rifle score that she tallied on Sunday at the NCAA Qualifer held in Murray, Kentucky. Her relays consisted of 99-99-100-98-98-99, ranking only one point behind her career-high of 594 (set during her freshman season).
This season, Korinek has led UTM in air rifle scoring seven times in 13 matches, averaging a score of 586.3 points. Her NCAA Qualifier performance marked the sixth time she had registered at least 590 points during the 2019-20 campaign.
Korinek has brought home All-Ohio Valley Conference honors seven times in her storied career, including a pair of mentions in air rifle (2019, 2017). In addition, she received All-OVC recognition in smallbore in all four seasons (2017-20) and was the 2017 OVC Freshman of the Year.
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