Hall of Fame
The 1992-93 Norwich rifle team made history by being the first Norwich team in any sport to place in a NCAA event. The team finished fourth in the NCAA tournament held at VMI on March 13, 1993. Team member Jennifer Corindia Barnes said, "Being a small school in a Division I sport bringing home an NCAA trophy is an awesome feeling. Making it the University's first is even better!" Barnes, who was invited to the Jr. Olympic rifle match, also notes the closeness of the team of 12. "We traveled a lot, were a close group of teammates and friends and lived in the Norwich van," she said.
Teammate Eric Hoskins, who was an All-American in both air rifle and small bore, adds that "the simple fact is that individuals from many different areas of the country came together for a single Cinderella-type season."
Under Coach Mike Hourigan the rifle team was ranked ninth in the nation with a record of 97-10. Barnes is grateful to Hourigan for his leadership. "Coach pulled the whole thing together. He studied hard to know how to get us to shoot our best. He had to know how to coach 12 individual people who were all very different. I'd like to thank him for his time and sacrifices for coaching us and believing in what we could do," she said. Hoskins said, "There is too much to say about Mike and his ability to get all of the raw talent out of a hodge-podge team, put it all together at one match, and come home with a fourth place victory."
The team beat West Point that year for the first time ever by a margin of 30 points. In addition, the team was victorious over Navy that season, the only Norwich sports team to ever beat Navy until that point. They also won the NRA sectional, the MIT Bean Pot and the West Point Invitational. They were ranked second in the MAC as well as being the first place team at the MAC ROTC conference. The team set records in small bore and air rifle.
Sophomore Erich Kluck was a member of the U.S. National Development team, which is an equivalent to JV for the Olympics. He was also an All-American in air rifle.
Coach Hourigan said, "I enjoyed working with all 13 teams I coached over the years at Norwich. I will always remember this group for many reasons - but most of all it was exciting to work with a group of young men and women who loved the sport of shooting so much. Their overall dedication to the sport, their teammates, and their school was unbelievable. It was a true pleasure to be their coach and they all taught me so much during their time at Norwich and beyond." Barnes concludes, "We were a close group of teammates and friends. Those are people I will always consider friends."
