The UTM rifle team capped off a successful season by competing in the OVC Championships on Feb. 3 in Jacksonville, Alabama.
The Skyhawk rifle squad finished last year ranked 19th in the nation and looked to keep their top-20 streak alive this year. UTM kicked off the 2018-2019 season in Memphis at the Tiger Open.
Four-year rifle veteran and senior Andre Delcalzo, a two-time All-OVC firer, and junior Kaitlin Korineck were designated as the team’s co-captains for this season. Also returning to the fold are Kalen Royal, Jacob Osborne, Celia Gelpey, Amanda Mayo and Jennifer Plocinik.
Second-year head coach MJ Vowell added talented freshmen Tristan Grisham, Rachel Sprague, Rachel Mills and Abigail Donald to replace the six departed seniors from last season.
The Skyhawks came out swinging in their season opener in Memphis, with Korinek leading the way in small-bore with a score of 578. Osborne, who broke his personal records in small-bore and air rifle at the meet, Sprague, and Delcalzo rounded out the team score at 2,264.
Korinek also led the team in air rifle with a score of 586 and was followed closely by Sprague (582), Osborne (579) and Gelpey (567) for a team score 2,314.
Satisfied with the showing in Memphis, the Skyhawks then traveled to Murray, Kentucky, to face OVC rival Murray State. The tandem of veteran Korinek and promising newcomer Sprague led the way in air rifle and small-bore.
Korineck (574), Sprague (574), Delcalzo (557) and Gelpey (544) combined for a small-bore team score of 2,249. In air rifle, Korinek (581), Sprague (580), Osborne (560) and Donald (558) combined for 2,279.
Vowell acknowledged that the team’s performance from the showing at Murray was down compared to Memphis, but the coach maintained confidence in her squad, pointing out Mills’ personal-best in small-bore.
Following Murray, the Skyhawks traveled to Morehead State for a two-meet weekend.
The busy weekend saw personal records set by several members of the rifle squad. Donald, Mills, Delcalzo, Sprague and Grisham all set new personal highs on air rifle, while Sprague and Grisham posted new highs on small-bore.
The weekend at Morehead State impressed Vowell overall. The head coach said, “We saw the team come together on Sunday as the air rifle team seemed to gel and small-bore came up some too. We had several fire personal-bests which is always great to see. I am extremely pleased with the team overall. We will have several weeks to rest up a bit and fine tune some things before we have to take on Murray State,” according to UTM Sports Information.
After a long rest, the Skyhawks came back in full force in November and fired the highest aggregate of the season at Murray State. The rifle squad didn’t slow down, as they broke that aggregate the following meet to end off the fall slate.
The Skyhawks didn’t slow down coming into the spring slate, as they produced similarly to the fall schedule. The squad racked up an impressive aggregate score of 4,534 on a tough field against host team Murray State, Jacksonville State, Kentucky, University of Alabama- Birmingham, and North Georgia at the Withrow Open. Following the Withrow Open, the Skyhawks were set to take part in the OVC Championship.
The Skyhawks had a great showing at the OVC Championship as they posted their second-highest aggregate of the season, as the squad posted a total of 4,594. However, this score wasn’t enough to win the championship, as UTM came in fourth place behind Murray State (4685), Morehead State (4666) and Jacksonville State (4663).
Despite not winning the OVC, the Skyhawks won multiple awards, as the consistent and effective one-two punch of Korinek and Sprague shined all season. Korinek made the Air Rifle All-OVC First Team and Small-bore All-OVC Second Team. Sprague made the Air Rifle All-OVC Second Team, Air Rifle All-Newcomer Team, Small-bore All-Newcomer Team and won 2019 OVC Freshman of the Year.
The Skyhawks will compete at the NCAA qualifier hosted by Murray State on Feb. 16.
Details and statistics came from UTM Sports Information and OVC Sports.
