Women's Rifle | 6/30/2017 10:19:00 AM

STATESBORO - Sandra Worman has been hired as the head rifle coach at Georgia Southern, as announced Friday by athletic director Tom Kleinlein. Worman, who is a highly decorated shooter from her competitive days, comes to Statesboro after three seasons as the volunteer assistant rifle coach at The Citadel. The hiring is contingent on final approval from University Human Resources.

While a member of the staff at The Citadel, she helped contribute to the co-ed team's 2016-2017 decade-high score performance. She also coached six athletes to the Junior Olympics in Colorado Springs. She was also responsible for the planning and teaching of mental training curriculum for the team, as well as the physical maintenance of Megalink Targeting systems.

"We're excited to be able to announce Sandra Worman as our new rifle coach," said Associate AD and S.W.A. Brandy Clouse. "Sandra's merits and her credentials speak loudly to her ability to take the Georgia Southern to the next level in rifle. Her knowledge of the sport, both as a competitor and as a coach, is something we look forward to her imparting on our student-athletes as we continue to build this young program."

Worman began her smallbore shooting career at age 10 with the Alamogordo Junior Rifle Club in New Mexico. Through weekly practice and regional and national matches, she increased her skill level and confidence to the point that she won 11 of 12 National Sub Junior titles awarded by the NRA in 1984. She represented her home state at the National Matches in Camp Perry, Ohio, as part of the state's Whistler Boy team from 1983-1985.

From 1987-89, she made the National Development Team in three-position and air rifle and went on to represent the United States in matches held in Cuba, Austria and Poland.

In 1987 she was the Polish National women's prone champion. She finished high school a year early to accept a shooting scholarship to St. John's University in Queens, New York, and was designated an NCAA All-American in air rifle for three of the four years.

During her tenure at the Citadel, she contributed to the Citadel co-ed team's decade high scores by encouraging the cadets to embrace mental management processes and positive self talk. 6 cadets qualified for the Junior Olympics in Colorado Springs during this time.

Worman has been a volunteer rifle coach at the Palmetto Gun Club Junior Rifle Shooting program since April 2014. The objectives of this program are to introduce safety, marksmanship, range etiquette and stewardship to the next generation of three-position and precision air rifle shooters.

A member of the St. John's University rifle team member from 1987-1991, Worman was a three-time All-American (1987, 1988 and 1989) and was named the team captain in 1989-1990. She holds a bachelor's degree in Spanish from St. John's and spent a year in Madrid teaching English as a foreign language. Worman has an NRA Class 1 rifle coach certification, and recently earned the Certified Advanced Rifle Coach credential through the USA Shooting Coach Academy.

She and her husband, Robert MacNeil, transplanted from Southern California to the southeast in 2009.