COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (April 22, 2019)
16-year-old JO Sport Pistol Champion Abbie Leverett, Paul Kang and the aptly named Madison Champion claimed top honors in their respective events at the 2019 National Junior Olympic Shooting Championships (NJOSC) Monday. Pistol and Paralympic Rifle events will conclude the three-week youth shooting showcase being held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
The 16-year-old Leverett (Bainbridge, Georgia) upheld the family name in the absence of her two older brothers as she’s using this event to shine the spotlight on her and her rising pistol skills. Abbie earned the overall championship in Women’s Sport Pistol, by a margin of 23 points and is an overall Junior Olympic champion for the first time after finishing third in this event last year. Her brothers Jack and Henry are in Beijing representing Team USA at the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup. A Leverett has now claimed gold at the NJOSC for five straight years now, and Abbie adds to an impressive medal haul of 17 top division medals during that stretch, including now eight victories. Finishing second was Sarah Choe (Los Angeles, California)followed by Ada Korkhin (Brookline, Massachusetts), who rebounded nicely after a rough 536 Qualification score Sunday. She shot 27 points higher Monday and beat Leverett in the Final.
Earning medals in the J2 (age 15-17) classification awards were Maria Tsarik (Lake Bluff, Illiniois) for gold, Riya Salian (North Attleboro, Massachusetts) for silver and Emily Yoder (Wolford, North Dakota) for bronze. In the J3 (ages 14 and younger) category, Annabell Yi (Diamond Bar, California) won gold, Suman Sanghera (Great Falls, Virginia) earned silver while Clarissa Haltiwanger (Little Mountain, South Carolina) finished third.
The 14-year-old Kang (Los Angeles, California) etched out a two-point win in Men’s Air Pistol, doing so on the strength of being the only competitor to shoot Qualification scores in the 560s with a 560 and 561 and then winning today’s Finals match. He was the J3 champion for the previous three years in this event. Finishing second was The Ohio State University product Samuel Gens (Andover, Massachusetts) with Kyler Swisher (Jonestown, Pennsylvania) earning the bronze medal.
Earning medals in the J2 classification awards were Ryan Yi (Diamond Bar, California) for gold, Hyun Lee (Los Angeles, California) for silver and Jaden Zhang (Diamond Bar, California) for bronze. In the J3 category, Remington Smith (Ashburn, Georgia) won gold, Aditya Kollipara earned silver with Sky Lim (Rancho Cucamonga, California) earning the bronze.
Paralympic athletes are making their second appearance at the NJOSC and it was Champion (Greenville, Texas) becoming champion in the SH2 Mixed Standing Air Rifle event featuring seven competitors. As the only J1 (age 18-20) entered, she earned a 19.7-point margin of victory against the young field. Gracie Hoyt (Mullen, Nebraska) finished second followed by Moira Antal (Bealeton, Virginia) in third.
Earning gold in the J2 classification award was Dalton Cannon (Seafood, Delaware) with Ben Hays (Annandale, Virginia), Ella Murray (Alexandria Virginia) and Sidney Knight (Oil City, Pennsylvania) earning the podium positions in the J3 classification. As the lone competitor in SH1 Mixed Standing Air Rifle event, Louis Slauterbeck (Port Clinton, Ohio) had a score today that was 16.4 points higher than his first Qualification match.
NJOSC continues Tuesday and Wednesday with Women’s Air Pistol, Men’s Sport Pistol and Paralympic Prone Rifle events.
2019 NJOSC PISTOL / PARA RESULTS: http://bit.ly/2vhN2nq