Lea Horvath of Ole Miss Rifle and Shey Taiwo of Track and Field don’t have to stroll down the Grove with crowds cheering on all sides to prove that they are champions.
Only a few weeks into the track and field season, Taiwo has made a historic start in women’s weight throw.
On Jan. 28, Taiwo climbed her way up the all-time NCAA list from the No. 7 spot and overtook the No. 2 spot with a record-breaking throw of 25.02 m or 82 feet, one inch. Not even a month later, Taiwo topped her own record, with a throw of 25.19 m on Feb. 11.
As a four-time NCAA qualifier and four-time All-American, Taiwo is no stranger to success, but these throws have taken her to new heights.
“When the ball left my hands, I knew it was a good throw,” Taiwo said. “I was so excited.”
In addition to the two throws earning her the No. 2 throws on the NCAA all-time list, the throws made her the No. 4 women’s weight thrower in world history and is the best throw by a collegiate athlete this early into a season.
Taiwo’s throw on Feb. 11 is now the seventh-best throw in world history.
Taiwo has also been named as one of athletes on the Bowerman Women’s Watch List, a trophy presented to the best male and female track and field athletes each year.
“When you’re a track and field athlete, the Bowerman award is something that you always have in your dreams, but in all honesty, I never thought that I would get this close ever,” Taiwo said. “It’s crazy to think that I came to Ole Miss with hopes of just being able to score a few points for my team, and now I am on the Bowerman watchlist.”
With more meets ahead of her, Taiwo has no inclination to slow down now.
“My goal for this season is to beat the NCAA record and set it high enough that my younger teammate Jasmine Mitchell will have to work hard to beat it,” Taiwo said.
In 2020, Mitchell, a junior, landed an SEC title in the weight throw category with Taiwo following behind as a runner-up.
Mitchell and Taiwo have been teammates since high school, and Taiwo names Mitchell as her biggest cheerleader and biggest competition.
In order to break the NCAA record, Taiwo must overtake Southern Illinois’ Brittany Riley, who holds the No. 1 spot with her record score of 25.56m or 83 feet, 10.25 inches.
Taiwo and the rest of Ole Miss Track and Field will finish out the indoor season with the SEC and NCAA Indoor Championships on Feb. 25 and 26 and March 11 and 12, respectively.
Ole Miss Rifle and Lea Horvath have been lighting up the scoreboard this season, finishing out the regular season with a record of 9-3. Horvath had a historic performance when she fired 60 perfect shots and earned a perfect score of 600 in air rifle during a competition with John Jay College on Jan. 30.
This came exactly one year after Horvath fired her first perfect score in 2021 during a competition with the Navy Rifle Team.
“I became really happy because exactly a year ago, I shot my first perfect score,” Horvath said. “It made it more special.”
According to Ole Miss Rifle Head Coach, Marsha Beasley, it was the twelfth time a perfect score had been fired in NCAA history.
With her second perfect score, Horvath became one of only four athletes to ever fire 60 perfect shots multiple times.
With it being the anniversary of her first perfect score, Horvath had trouble keeping thoughts of scores out of her head during the competition.
“As I got closer to finishing the match, I felt pressure after my 45 shot, and it started to be more stressful,” Horvath said.
However, Horvath had nothing to worry about, and her perfect score further established her as No. 4 in the NCAA rankings of individual athletes for her individual average across smallbore and air rifle, 1186.455 aggregate. .
In addition to Horvath’s perfect score, the other shooters on the team fired scores of 599, 596 and 593, which set a university record for air rifle.
“I was delighted to see our team set the school record in air rifle,” Beasley said. “All four counters turned in scores above their average.”
Ole Miss Rifle and Ole Miss Women’s Track and Field are currently both ranked in the Top 10 in the NCAA, with Rifle ranked No. 5 and Women’s Track and Field ranked No. 9.
