National Junior Olympic Shooting Championships

NJOSC Women's Trap Winners (L to R) Kayle Browning, Rachael Heiden, and Stephanie Martinago.

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – Just one week after the conclusion of USA Shooting’s National Shotgun Championships, juniors across the country have traveled or extended their stay in Colorado Springs to compete in the National Junior Olympic Shotgun Championships (NJOSC).  The competition was fierce in the trap events.  In Women’s Trap, Rachael Heiden, who recently won the USAS National Championship title for Women’s Open Trap, conquered the NJOSC event as well.  Heiden walked into the final with a four target lead (113 birds) and shot a solid 23-target final.  She finished with a big smile five targets above the competition.  The silver medalist was Kayle Browning at 131 total targets.  Browning and bronze medalist Stephanie Martinago both entered the final with 109 targets, but Browning broke ahead as Martinago shot a 19 target final.  In the J2 Category, leader Ashley Carroll finished sixth overall, yet won her division with 109 targets for J2 and a total of 122 targets with her final.  She was followed by Brianne Radulovich at 104 targets and Erin Danhausen at 95 targets.

The Men’s Champion was Garrett Walters, who shot for 142 targets despite high winds and an impending thunderstorm.  Walters nailed 24 straight, but missed the last target to fall one shy of a perfect round.  Walters shot up from a second place tie to win the competition as silver medalist Jacob Gogno, who entered the final round with 121 targets, shot a 20-target final.  The bronze medalist was Jake Wallace with 137 total targets.  Wallace was tied with Walters at 118 targets going into the final, but couldn’t maintain the pace for gold.  Your high J2 winner was David Radulovich with 116 targets.  He was followed by Dakotah Richardson, also at 116 targets.  Radulovich narrowly beat out Richardson by one target in the second match to claim the top J2 title.  The bronze medalist was TJ Bayer, a member of the World Championship Junior Shotgun Team, with 114 targets.  Finally, the gold medalist of the J3 category was Nick Scholz at 105 targets.  He was followed by silver medalist Will Dunnebacke (100 targets) and Tyler Lirio (100 targets).

In Men’s Double Trap, Ian Rupert smoked the competition today at the National Junior Olympic Championships (NJOSC) in the Men’s Double Trap final. Rupert finished with 175 targets–exactly four targets above silver medalist Garrett Walters. Rupert, a J2 competitor, is also a member of the World Shooting Championships Junior Shotgun Team. Walters, the gold medalist of the NJOSC Men’s Trap event, finished at 171 targets. The bronze medalist, David Radulovich, shot a strong 44 target final to finish at 170 targets.  The high J2 for this event was Christian Wilkoski at 110 targets. The silver medalist in the J2 category was Tyler Auger with 102 targets. Auger squeezed one target ahead of bronze medalist Justin Brooks. In the J3 category, the gold medalist was Haden Green, who shot for 86 targets. He was followed by Connor Rinker (83 targets) and Lewis Thaggard (80 targets). USA Shooting was pleased with the strong Double Trap turnout–a good sign for the upcoming talent in the sport.

Men’s Skeet was a thrilling event- laden with shoot-offs and suspense.  The gold medalist, Jon Michael McGrath, shot up from fourth place with a perfect 25 X 25 in the final round. McGrath gained a two target lead over the rest of the competition, finishing with 145 total targets, missing just five targets overall. Phillip Jungman, William Brazell, and Thomas Coggins were all tied at 143 targets after the final. A shoot-off between the three quickly eliminated Coggins as he missed one bird; Jungman and Brazell turned up the heat as Brazell aimed and broke two, and Jungman echoed. When Brazell missed one target, Jungman held the crowd in suspense as he calmly fired on his last bird of the pair. A clean break assured the silver medal for Jungman, and Brazell became the bronze medalist. The high shooter of the J2 category was Granger DeWitt at 121 targets. DeWitt also finished sixth in the open division after losing a shoot-off to TJ Bayer. The J2 silver medalist was TJ Bayer at 118 targets (his open final does not count toward category awards). Luis Gloria was the bronze medalist at 118 targets. Coulter DeWitt was the high J3 winner. DeWitt was leaps and bounds above the competition at 108 targets. The silver medalist was Will Dunnebacke at 99 targets. Also scoring 99 targets was the bronze medalist Cole Britt.

Women’s Skeet was a battle between Resident Athletes Caitlin Connor and Jaiden Grinnell. Grinnell was leading by two targets after the first day of competition, but lost her stride as she shot a 42/50 in day two. Connor’s strong performance left her with a five target lead heading into the final, which she maintained throughout with a strong 25 target final. Connor, the gold medalist, finished at 144 targets and Grinnell, the silver medalist, scored 139 targets. The bronze medalist was Morgan Craft at 136 targets. The high J2 shotgunner was Brandy Drozd at 106 targets. Drozd also finished fourth in the open division. The silver medalist, and new to the podium, was Riley Moody at 97 targets. In third was Brianne Radulovich at 96 targets.