There’s no place like home – and winning a National Junior Olympic Shooting Championship (NJOSC) on your home range? It doesn’t get much better than that for Abby Votava. For five years Votava (pictured right), 17, has been coming to shoot at the NJOSC on her home range at the Olympic Shooting Center in Colorado Springs but this time her win not only snagged her a gold medal in Women’s Air Rifle, but also earned her a spot on the National Junior Team.
“It was just like shooting on my home range with my friends!” she said. Hear more from Votava here: http://youtu.be/NhXMc3mENeI.
Votava was just .4 points ahead of Minden Miles (Weatherford, Texas) after two days of qualifying competition (828.7 vs. 828.3). With Votava’s win in the Final today, she earned the additional points needed to secure the top position.
Champions at this year’s NJOSC are determined through a modified selection format similar to that of USA Shooting’s National Championships: Points are awarded for standings in each day of competition with additional points awarded for performance in the Final.
Elizabeth Marsh (Searcy, Ark.) finished second in the Final and in the Overall competition.
Nearly 600 competitors (age 21 and younger) from across the country qualified at their state competitions for the opportunity to compete in the 17-day NJOSC competition.
View complete results from the competition here: http://www.usashooting.org/library/Women_Air_Rifle_Final_Results.xlsx.
Up next at NJOSC is the Women’s Three-Position Rifle competition that begins tomorrow with Finals Saturday afternoon. Men’s Rifle competition begins Tuesday.
For the first time in the history of the National Junior Olympics, all competitors will shoot on electronic targets. USA Shooting underwent a massive range upgrade to improve lighting and enhance the spectator experience by incorporating more than 70 new electronic targets and all competition can be viewed live via our YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIWou5VshRKR6Q8-tMN8tynqsDg95y1z1.
View and download photos from the event here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usashooting/sets/72157644045549846/.
To view the complete schedule and start lists, visit http://www.usashooting.org/7-events/njosc.
Women’s Air Rifle – Overall
Champion: Abby Votava (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
2nd Place: Elizabeth Marsh (Searcy, Ark.)
3rd Place: Minden Miles (Weatherford, Texas)
J2
Champion: Casey Lutz (Meridian, Idaho)
2nd Place: Sarah Osborn (Hampton, Va.)
3rd Place: Samantha Peterson (Ham Lake, Minn.)
J3
Champion: Annabelle Stanec (Wadsworth, Ohio)
2nd Place: Grace Taschuk (Andover, Minn.)
3rd Place: Angeline Henry (Fort Worth, Texas)
Contact:
Jessica Delos Reyes
719-866-4896
Jessica.delosreyes@usashooting.org