The University of Mississippi Athletics
Haig Likes a Challenge
2/13/2015 | Rifle
By Kim Ling
Associate Athletics Media Relations Director
When most people think of New York, they think of New York City. Ole Miss rifle freshman Jessica Haig lives about a five-hour drive from there in Constableville, N.Y. Nearly nine million people live in New York City, compared to just 242 in the 2010 census for her hometown.
"My hometown is about an hour and a half away from Syracuse in the center of upstate New York," said Haig, who has spent her entire life in the tiny little town, where everybody knows your name.
Haig didn't grow up wanting to be a member of a rifle team. In fact, she didn't have any idea what it was about until her seventh grade science teacher, also an assistant coach for the high school team, suggested she try it out. Her brother was a member of the team.
"He thought I should give it a try, since my brother was on the team," Haig said. "I had no idea what it was like or how any of it worked, but I gave it a shot. I was hooked right away and ended up continuing it through middle school and high school."
Most people would be surprised to learn that Rifle is just as demanding as other sports, but in its own way. That's what drew Haig to the sport.
"I like the challenge of how mentally and physically demanding it is; maybe not so much running or stuff like that, but endurance wise," she said. "You have to stand there and hold everything still for a very long time. It takes a lot of discipline and focus. I didn't realize how much the little things affect everything in a match. I had to teach myself now to stay focused."
Living in a small town, there weren't many local or area competitions and travel was difficult, so they would have postal matches.
"We would compete against teams from the Long Island area, but we had to shoot at home and then mail our scores back and forth," Haig said.
Haig did travel to Colorado Springs, Colorado during her junior year of high school for the Junior Olympics, but that was pretty much all she saw outside New York while competing in rifle until she decided to join the Rebels.
Knowing she wanted to continue her career in college, Haig had to find the situation that was right for her and that was somewhat difficult, because her high school dropped smallbore during her freshman year.
"That kind of held me back," Haig said. I still wanted to compete in college, so I had to find a school that would accept me with not as much experience in smallbore as others may have had."
Ole Miss graduated five seniors last year, so Haig is one of four freshmen on the team and rooms with fellow freshman Kristyn Trump. With no seniors on the team and just three sophomores, Haig and her teammates had to adjust quickly.
Haig has competed in every match for the Rebels and shot a career-best 589 in air rifle at the Withrow Invitational last month. She also owns a season-high 571 in smallbore.
"The first semester, I was just trying to prove myself, because I knew I had a lot to make up. I had to prove I could be a smallbore shooter and an air shooter. My overall goal is to qualify for NCAAs, and I want our team to as well. I want to step up and be a leader. I am ready to take that task on."
Haig is also adjusting to a different culture, but says she likes it down here.
"I like the hospitality. People hold doors open for you or offer simple gestures, so that's nice. I've enjoyed it so far. I like how everything is small, so it's not too overwhelming. You can walk everywhere on campus. I like how everyone comes together for different events. It's a big university, but everyone comes together like they know everyone. I like the family vibe you get here."
Haig and her teammates welcome Navy Saturday in a match at the Patricia C. Lamar National Guard Readiness Center. Action begins at 8 a.m., and admission is free
Players Mentioned
