COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (April 8, 2017)
The first medals were awarded today at the National Junior Olympic Shooting Championships on the Olympic Training Center campus in Colorado Springs. Along with Junior Olympic glory, today’s Men’s Air Rifle winners also earned appointments to the National Junior Team, as well as the team that will compete at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championship in Changwon, South Korea later this summer.
Top honors went once again to reigning Men’s Air Rifle National Junior Olympic Champion Logan Ogden (Galway, New York). The Air Force Academy sophomore has been dominating Men’s Air Rifle competition as of late, consistently posting world-class scores, as well as winning the Winter Airgun Championships in December and the Open-level overall selection process for the World Championship Team.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Ogden said. “Felt like I didn’t have too much time to practice before – had some classes to take care of – but knowing that I had already earned a World Championship Team slot took a little of the pressure off. I’m looking forward to getting to know more of the World Championship Team and building friendships with these guys.”
Before the Finals even started, Ogden has already secured the gold medal with his two-day Qualification score. Today’s win marks Ogden’s second National Junior Olympic title and his first appearance at a World Championship.
Making his sixth National Junior Olympics appearance and taking the silver medal was 16-year-old Will Shaner (Colorado Springs, Colorado). He too had secured the silver medal prior to today’s Final with his Qualification score alone. Shaner’s second-day Qualification score of 624.7 is a world-class Junior score. His trip to South Korea will mark his third World Championship Team appearance.
“This match
