By Ashley Brugnone, CMP Writer
To make up for unexpected changes to the usual air rifle season, the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) has come up with a substitute method of establishing and awarding top junior athletes in its unfired national events.
Each year, two of the biggest competitions in the world of junior air rifle are the JROTC and the CMP Three-Position Air Rifle Championships. Both begin in the fall with a postal match before moving on to regional competitions that eventually lead to the crowning national events in the spring and early summer, where overall champions in sporter and precision classes are finally determined. The JROTC Championships accommodate high school scholastic athletes from around the country, while the CMP Three-Position event welcomes a variety of junior individuals and teams from schools and clubs.
With many districts closed for the remainder of the year due to COVID-19, the decision was made in early spring to cancel the JROTC Air Rifle National Championships and the CMP Three-Position Regional/National events – carefully considering the idea that the CMP would rather cancel the events entirely than carry on without full participation from qualifying schools.
Recalling its mission of awarding talented junior marksmen, the CMP remained enthusiastic about recognizing those junior athletes who exhibited exceptional performances in the fired portions of the Three-Position Championships and named winners from the following matches that were able to be completed as scheduled.
JROTC Three-Position Air Rifle Championships:
Prize money reserved for the JROTC National Championship was used to award those who recorded outstanding scores in the JROTC Service Championships (fired in Ohio, Alabama and Arizona). Those finalized results can be found on CMP’s Competition Tracker page at http://ct.thecmp.org/JROTCNatresults.
The Top 5 teams and individuals from precision and sporter classes were presented with monetary awards for their success during the match.
Precision Teams
Team Name Score Inner Tens Award Money
1 Granbury HS TX 1 4692 320 $2,000.00
2 East Coweta HS GA 1 4662 289 $1,500.00
3 La Cueva HS NM 1 4658 288 $1,000.00
4 Joshua HS TX 4641 283 $750.00
5 Eldorado HS NM 4621 270 $500.00
Sporter Teams
Team Name Score Inner Tens Award Money
1 Nation Ford HS SC A 4435 171 $2,000.00
2 Zion-Benton HS IL 1 4433 167 $1,500.00
3 Jack C. Hays HS TX 4404 147 $1,000.00
4 Nation Ford HS SC B 4322 115 $750.00
5 Lebanon HS OR 4320 133 $500.00
Precision Individuals
Name Team Score Award Money
1 Philip Becker (204588) Granbury HS TX 1 1285.9 $500.00
2 Ionee Mendoza (296002) Parlier HS CA 1274.8 $400.00
3 Kaylene Castillo (263667) Eldorado HS NM 1272.7 $300.00
4 Allison Henry (233890) Granbury HS TX 1 1272.3 $200.00
5 Clarissa Layland (255915) Granbury HS TX 1 1271 $100.00
Sporter Individuals
Name Team Score Award Money
1 Halie Creekmore (296147) Zion-Benton HS IL 1,215.6 $500.00
2 Maya Cameron (331188) Nation Ford HS SC 1,212.3 $400.00
3 Alexia Resendiz (263632) Zion-Benton HS IL 1,205.8 $300.00
4 Kayla Kalenza (296557) Nation Ford HS SC 1,202.3 $200.00
5 Alana Ruggiero (331185) Nation Ford HS SC 1,197.0 $100.00
In addition to money awarded by the CMP, Larry and Brenda Potterfield from the MidwayUSA Foundation offered generous donations to be distributed amongst those teams that qualified to attend the JROTC Service Championships.
CMP Three-Position Air Rifle Championships:
The CMP Three-Position Air Rifle Match schedule was also disrupted this spring – with only the Postals Match completed earlier in the year. Regional competitions set for March and April in Ohio, Alabama and Utah were ultimately cancelled.
Below are the Top 5 highest scoring teams and individuals in both precision and sporter from the Postals results. View a complete list of results on the CMP Competition Tracker page: http://ct.thecmp.org/2020CMPPostalresults.
Precision Teams
Team Name Score Inner Tens
- Ontelaunee Jr. Rifle
PA 1 1174 74
- Gallatin Valley
Sharp Shooter MT 1 1170 78
- Capitol City Junior
Rifle Club WA 1 1165 71
- Hellgate Rifle MT 1 1165 59
- Sabertooth Shooting
Squad WA 1 1164 68
Sporter Teams
Team Name Score Inner Tens
1 Zion-Benton HS IL 1 1105 35
2 Lebanon HS OR 1 1099 40
3 Boca Ciega HS FL 1 1088 31
4 Des Moines
North Marine Corps
JROTC IA 1 1080 34
5 Denver North
AJROTC HS CO 1 1068 22
Precision Individuals
Name Team Score
1 Mackenzie Strauch (166349) Gallatin Valley Sharp
Shooter MT 1 297-25x
2 Katrina Demerle (224913) Fairfield Sportsmen’s
Association OH 297-19x
3 Marcus Klemp (335048) Hellgate Rifle MT 1 297-18x
4 Scott Rockett (204660) Patriot Shooting Club
of VA 4-H VA 1 296-25x
5 Allison Buesseler (159811) MN Centershots
Legion Post 102 1 296-22x
Sporter Individuals
Name Team Score
1 Shelby Carr (226797) Guns R Us 4-H NE 283-13x
2 Jeremiah Vonzell (297774) Zion-Benton HS IL 282-9x
3 Christopher Hicks (269176) Culpeper County
MCJROTC VA 1 281-9x
4 Zoe Geoghegan (316756) Lebanon HS OR 1 279-13x
5 Katrena Silletto (321198) Denver North
AJROTC HS CO 1 278-7x
Congratulations to all awarded teams and individuals! We at the CMP were saddened to have to cancel these always exciting and meaningful junior air rifle events, but we were happy to be able to still recognize these talented athletes for their hard work and determination.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program is a federally chartered 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation. It is dedicated to firearm safety and marksmanship training and to the promotion of marksmanship competition for citizens of the United States. For more information about the CMP and its programs, log onto www.TheCMP.org.
