Penn-Trafford grad Korinek qualifies for NCAA rifle championships but has dream dashed by event cancellation

Laser focus and a cool head. Those are qualities Penn-Trafford graduate Kaitlin Korinek always has exhibited.

On family camping trips in her youth, she said she could sit in the boat for hours fishing, blocking out everything around her. Her level-headed nature made her the kind of person others would come to when they needed an ear to bend.

Those traits also served her well as a collegiate rifle competitor. As a member of Tennessee-Martin’s team, she earned multiple Ohio Valley Conference accolades.

Recently, she achieved her ultimate aim: making the NCAA championships in air rifle thanks to posting a score of 593 (of a possible 600) at the qualifier to earn one of four at-large bids. It was her first chance to compete on the big stage and, as a senior, her last.

But, like so many athletes across the country, her NCAA dreams were dashed when concerns over the spread of the coronavirus shut down college sports.

“I was very disappointed and kind of in shock at what happend,” Korinek said. “We saw it coming a little bit when they canceled the basketball tournament, but it didn’t really hit home until they canceled ours.”

So there would be no storybook ending to her endeavors in a sport she took up almost by accident.

When she was a freshman at Penn-Trafford, one of her friends, Sarah Fink, was a member of the Irwin Post 228 junior rifle team. The only female on the team, Fink invited Korinek to accompany her to a session.

Korinek made a quick impression.

“The coach asked me if I was going to show up at practice on Monday,” she said.

Shortly after that, she gave up track and basketball and joined Penn-Trafford’s rifle team as a sophomore. She went on to excel at Tennessee-Martin in air rifle and smallbore, the other competitive shooting discipline.

Her personal-best score in air rifle was 594, achieved during her freshman season.

“What I really liked about this was it was a team sport and an individual sport,” Korinek said. “You are trying to beat your own goals against yourself. You are your biggest competition.”

Skyhawks coach MJ Vowell said Korinek always had the perfect temperament to be a successful shooter.

“The mental part is what tips the balance,” she said. “The ability to focus for long periods of time and the ability to manage emotionally what is going on … it’s very stressful.”

Korinek said she believed she was peaking at the right time for NCAAs. After a bit of a stagnant period during the middle of the season, she began to ramp up her performance toward the end.

Making the NCAA Tournament, Korinek said, was a “bucket list” item. Though she didn’t get to compete, she said she takes some solace in knowing she earned the right to be there.

“Competing would have been really nice,” she said, “but I can at least go back home knowing that I qualified for the NCAAs, and that was a whole big goal to get there.”

Korinek has one more year of schooling as she works toward her degree in nursing. During that time, she plans to hang around the rifle team to offer some pointers.

She said the disciplines she cultivated as a shooter — focus, patience — will help her in her career. And she will continue to shoot for fun as a way to block out life’s inevitable frustrations.

“I think it’s really a great sport,” she said. “You’re focusing in the moment. You can’t think about anyone else when you’re shooting. If you want to take a break from everything going on around you, it’s a good sport because it’s just you and the rifle.”