MJ Vowell - Rifle Coach - UTM Athletics

MJ Vowell

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
mvowell3@utm.edu
Phone:
731-881-7586

MJ Vowell is in her eighth season as the head coach of the University of Tennessee at Martin rifle squad in 2024-25.

Last season, the Skyhawks earned five Ohio Valley Conference postseason honors as four separate UT Martin representatives occupied that prestigious list. Alayna Walther collected All-OVC first team accolades in smallbore and also joined Nick Fares on the All-OVC air rifle second team. Joey Kovach achieved All-OVC second team status in smallbore while Aubrey Summers was named to the OVC All-Newcomer squad in air rifle.

A year after the Skyhawks set a school record for most air rifle points in an OVC Championships event since the current format was implemented in 2005, UT Martin's aggregate tally of 4,624 points topped the previous high mark of 4,615 in 2015. The Skyhawks' 2024 OVC Championships Day 1 score of 2,306 points shattered UT Martin's smallbore record of 2,287 in 2019.

Outside of the range, the Skyhawks extended their OVC record with their eighth Team Sportsmanship Award in 2023-24, winning that award for the third time in the last five years. The eight OVC Team Sportsmanship Awards for UT Martin are three more than any other OVC rifle program in history. The Skyhawks also boasted four Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association Scholastic All-Americans in Jesse Chamberlain, Fares, Kovach and Summers.

In 2022-23, four Skyhawks combined to bring home seven OVC postseason accolades. Walther earned All-OVC first team honors in air rifle and second team status in smallbore while Fares (air rifle) and Kovach (smallbore) were also voted to the All-OVC second team in their respective events. Additionally, Kovach was named to the OVC All-Newcomer squad in both air rifle and smallbore while Jeffrey Bourassa received that title in smallbore.

UT Martin gradually improved throughout the 2022-23 campaign and saved some of its best performances for last. The Skyhawks shattered the program record for OVC Championship air rifle scoring (2,335 points) for the second straight year while setting a season-high in air rifle points (2,340) at the NCAA Qualifier at Murray State (the season finale). Off the range, UT Martin additionally earned the 2022-23 OVC Team Sportsmanship Award for rifle, which shattered the conference's record for most all-time awards (seven) in the history of the sport.

In 2021-22, the Skyhawks saw three student-athletes combine for six All-OVC honors. Fares was crowned as All-OVC second team in both air rifle and smallbore while the freshman duo of Chamberlain and Walther each nabbed OVC All-Newcomer status in both air rifle and smallbore. Academically, UT Martin produced four Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association Scholastic All-Americans for the second consecutive season as Abigail Donald, Fares, Rachel Mills and Victoria Petersen all earned that title.

The Skyhawks claimed a pair of All-OVC accolades as Rachel Sprague (second team smallbore) and Jennifer Plocinik (second team air rifle) each earned top billing amongst the league's best in 2021-22. Additionally, UT Martin was responsible for four CRCA Scholastic All-Americans in Donald, Fares, Celia Gelpey and Mills.

In 2019-20, UT Martin boasted a victory over eventual OVC champion Morehead State in November and established a season-high in aggregate scoring (4,628 points) against Memphis at the NCAA Qualifier on Feb. 23 - the fourth time the squad has eclipsed the 4,600-point plateau in 2019-20. The OVC Championship was held on the UT Martin campus, as the Skyhawks hosted the two-day February event for the first time since 2012.

A total of four Skyhawks received OVC postseason accolades in 2019-20. Sprague was named to the All-OVC smallbore first team, Kaitlin Korinek claimed All-OVC smallbore second team status while Fares nabbed OVC All-Newcomer honors in both smallbore and air rifle. Vowell also became only the second Skyhawk to be elected OVC Rifle Coach of the Year.

Courtesy of a season-high 593 score in air rifle at the NCAA Qualifier, Korinek earned one of the four at-large spots in the 2020 NCAA Championships. The senior from Irwin, Pa. became only the sixth individual in UT Martin history to nab an at-large bid into the national championship event, which was eventually cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Korinek graduated as one of the program's all-time greats with seven career All-OVC accolades.

Academically, the Skyhawk trio of Gelpey, Korinek and Mills were three of just 157 student-athletes nationally to secure CRCA Scholastic All-American status in 2019-20. The hardware continued to roll in when UT Martin received the OVC's Team Sportsmanship Award for the 2019-20 campaign.

Vowell oversaw a trio of student-athletes who combined for seven OVC postseason awards in 2018-19. That included Sprague, who became just the sixth Skyhawk in school history to claim the OVC Freshman of the Year award. Sprague also earned a place on the air rifle All-OVC second team to go along with an All-OVC Newcomer award in both air rifle and smallbore. Korinek (air rifle All-OVC first team, smallbore All-OVC second team) and Donald (air rifle All-OVC Newcomer) also captured awards in 2018-19.

The 2018-19 UT Martin rifle squad was one of just five NCAA Division I schools to earn a NCAA Public Recognition Award for its Academic Progress Rate. The Skyhawks joined Morehead State, Murray State, Nebraska and West Virginia in that exclusive category on their way to the first such award in program history.

In her debut season, Vowell tutored Joe Martin as he earned an NCAA Rifle Championships at-large bid in smallbore. She saw a total of five Skyhawks garner postseason accolades as Martin was named All-OVC first team in both air rifle and smallbore while Korinek picked up an All-OVC second team spot in smallbore. Freshmen Gelpey, Jacob Osborne and Kalen Royal were tabbed to the All-Newcomer team for air rifle while Gelpey and Royal picked up the awards in smallbore.

Vowell spent over 20 years serving in the United States Army. She served with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) International Rifle Section from 1990-93, followed by various logistics positions at home and overseas. Since retirement, she served as a firearms instructor for a premier firearms instruction training group in Louisville, Ky. and was a charter member of a women's non-profit organization promoting a safe and respectable way for women to learn about the shooting sports.

A native of Louisville, Ky., Vowell competed for coach Bob Beard while a student at UT Martin from 1985-1988 and graduated with a bachelor of science degree in natural resources management. She was a member of UT Martin's 1986 Gulf South Conference championship squad and was also named the Kentucky Bluegress State Games Air Rifle Champion in 1988. Additionally, she earned a berth on the 1988 USAMU Counsel Internationale du Sport Militare (CISM) team.