MJ Vowell

MJ Vowell is in her sixth season as the head coach of the University of Tennessee at Martin rifle squad in 2022-23.
Last season, the Skyhawks saw three student-athletes combine for six all-Ohio Valley Conference honors. Nick Fares was crowned as All-OVC second team in both air rifle and smallbore while the freshman duo of Jesse Chamberlain and Alayna 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. It marked the sixth time in 15 years that the Skyhawk rifle program won the honor (no other OVC rifle program owns more than four such awards).
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.
Category:UT Martin Athletic Staff
Category:Rifle Head Coaches