COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (April 26, 2018)
After the dust of the National Junior Olympic Shooting Championships settled this week, six young athletes stayed an additional two days to compete for Junior Rapid Fire Pistol slots on the U.S. Team that will compete at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championship August 31 – September 14 in Changwon, South Korea.
Already earning two medals each this week for their finishes in Air and Sport Pistol during the National Junior Olympics, brothers Jack Leverett III and Henry Leverett (Bainbridge, Georgia) topped the podium once again, earning gold and silver respectively in today’s Rapid Fire Pistol competition. The brothers had already earned slots on the Junior World Championship Team for Air and Sport Pistol with their finishes this week.
Joining them on the podium in the bronze-medal position was 13-year-old Paul Kang (Los Angeles, California), the youngest competitor in the match. Kang is also the youngest competitor to qualify for the U.S. team for this World Championship.
Selection was based on two Qualification matches and additional points earned based on finish (eight for first, seven for second and so on) in the lone Final today. Jack and Henry Leverett posted world-class, Open-level (adult) scores in Rapid Fire Pistol with a 579 and 578 in Qualification today. Jack Leverett III also won the Final.
Today’s match wrapped three-weeks of Junior-level competition with nearly 800 athletes from across the country. The final athletes to be added to the World Championship Team will be selected in the non-Olympic events at the USA Shooting National Championships June 10-17 in Fort Benning, Georgia.
Results from the Junior Rapid Fire Pistol match and the rest of the National Junior Olympic Shooting Championships: http://www.usashooting.org/library/Competitions/0_2018/RP_JO/National_JO/Results/Pistol/Final_Pistol_Para_Results.pdf[1].
