Posted on Fri, Dec. 01, 2006
IN THE SPOTLIGHT TCU'S TANYA GORIN
Sophomore aims at a solid season
By MERCEDES MAYER
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Going through a bit of a "sophomore slump" after a great freshman year on the TCU rifle team, Tanya Gorin hopes last week's down time helps out.
The Frogs were scheduled to participate in their last competition of the fall season Thursday night against Air Force and Nebraska in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Gorin went to the meet feeling refreshed.
"What I needed was a break," Gorin said. "The first thing to do when you're having a problem is to keep working through it. If that doesn't work, you just need to stop and take a week off. I did that over Thanksgiving, and I feel like that's what I needed."
Gorin, who is from Mesa, Ariz., has helped the TCU rifle team to two first-place and two second-place finishes this semester. The team will resume competition on Jan. 27 at home against Air Force.
Class: Sophomore
Vital stats: 5-foot-6 member of the TCU rifle team
Highlights: Three times during her freshman year, Gorin set school records in air rifle, the last being in January at the UTEP Triangular (586). That mark was broken earlier this season.
How did you get into rifle? My dad had lots of firearms in the house, so I'd go out to the range with him every once in a while and shoot small bore. I started enjoying it a lot, and at the local club I shot at there was a junior program. We'd come out and shoot small bore once a week. I fell in love with it. I started competing in local matches and from there I started shooting air rifle, too.
How old were you when you started? I was 11.
Did it start out as your dad wanting to teach you safety? It was really something to do with dad. Once a week, that was my dad time.
Did you have a certain day you'd go out there? Every Thursday night.
Now you can probably beat him, huh? Yeah (laughs).
Did you start getting really good at it and figured out you could go to college to do rifle? The coaches always told me they could see I had a lot of potential. So I stuck with it and kept working hard. It really helps that I enjoyed it a lot. My dad started throwing around ideas [about college] in about ninth or 10th grade, but I never really thought about it until my junior year, and I started looking up schools that had programs.
