Green Tops Another Podium With NJOSC Women’s Smallbore Win
OutdoorHub 04.17.12
Catherine Green (Coventry, R.I.) finished her National Junior Olympic Shooting Championships (NJOSC) career on a high note-two gold medals and a complete women’s rifle sweep. She won the Women’s 50m Rifle Three Position event today with 1252.7 total points.
Green, a sophomore at Texas Christian University (TCU), shot 1158 match points to take a ten point lead on the competition. She followed it up with 94.7 points in the final. Sporting dangling air-pellet earrings all week, 19-year-old Green won the NJOSC Women’s 10m Air Rifle title on Sunday. Her performance today reasserted her appointment on the National Junior Rifle Team. Green turns 21 next year so she will not be eligible for the 2013 NJOSC.
“I was a little worried today that I would lose the ten point lead,” said Green. “I tried to stay focused and not think about missing, about coming down on my target and envisioning a ten. I was diligent about completing my shot process and focusing on the ten-ring. I’m grateful for the support of my parents, coaches Makucevich and Monez and God.”
Joining Green on the National Junior Team (NJT) is 19-year-old Kelsey Emme (Piedmont, S.D.). Competing in her fifth NJOSC, Emme shot 1148 match points and 96.6 points in the final to finish with 1244.6 total points.
Emme and bronze medalist Mackenzie Martin (Fairhaven, Mass.) were neck-and-neck through the final. “I knew she was close, but my main goal was to hold my spot,” said Emme. “Making the NJT has been a goal for a long time and I’m excited. It’s the next step and I hope to make the National Development Team and then National Team in the future. I’d like to thank my coach, parents, supporters and the volunteers that helped staff the match.”
Emme, a freshman at Murray State, earned the praise of her collegiate coach with an appointment to the NJT. “I’m real proud of everything she has done,” said Murray State Head Coach Alan Lollar. “She came back from a tough day yesterday, and was determined and focused today to finish strong.”
Martin, a freshman at Fairhaven High School, gained ground with the highest final of 98.5 points. She was in a three-way tie at 1145 points with Denise Martin (Chewelah, Wash.) and Sunny Russell(Stratford, Texas), but shot her way to a bronze medal with 1243.5 total points. Denise Martin, a senior at Jenkins High School, finished in fourth with 1242.7 points. Danielle Foster (Newport News, Va.), a freshman at North Carolina State, shot 94.8 points in the final to move from sixth to fifth overall with 1238.8 total points. Also moving up one position in the final was Rachel Martin (Peralta, N.M.) with 1237.1 total points. Russell finished seventh overall with 90 points in the final for 1235 total points. The eighth place finisher was Samantha Bullard (Monroville, Ala.) with 1234.4 total points.
The high J2 competitor of the match was Rachel Martin with 1143 points. Bullard, also a J2 competitor, won the silver medal. The bronze medalist was Rachel Garner (Celina, Texas) with 1140 points. In the J3 category, Amanda Ruffner (McVeytown, Pa.) finished with high honors at 1101 points. The J3 silver medalist was Samantha Peterson (Ham Lake, Minn.) with 1096 points and the bronze medalist was Emily Cock (Silverton, Ore.) with 1075 points.
Men’s Rifle
NJOSC continues with competition in men’s rifle events. The Men’s 10m Air Rifle final will be held on April 21 at 1:30 p.m. MST. Smallbore events-Men’s 50m Rifle Prone and Men’s 50m Rifle Three Position-will be decided on April 24 at 5:00 p.m MST.
For final scores and rankings, please visit the National Junior Olympic Program page. Photos are available on USA Shooting’s Facebook page and Flickr.
