Results: 2024 NRA Arizona State Youth 60-Shot Standing Air Rifle Championship

2024-2025 NRA Arizona State Youth 60-Shot Standing Air Rifle Championship
Ben Avery Shooting Facility
Phoenix, Arizona
November 16
28 competitors
Submitted by Dan Palmer

On November 16, 2024, we hosted the 2024- 2025 NRA Arizona State Youth 60-Shot Standing Air Rifle Championship at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility’s indoor air gun range in Phoenix, Arizona. The competition was open to all JROTC, 4-H, private and public youth shooting programs.

Left: Taking first place in Precision individual competition was Kelsey Klauba from Rio Salado Shooting Club, with Greg McDiffett presenting. Right: Placing second in the individual competition was Xavier Ellis, also from Rio Salado Shooting Club.

Twenty-eight athletes (12 of them women) representing the AFJROTC, USAJROTC, MCJROTC, NJROTC and the Rio Salado Sportsman’s Junior Club attended the event. There was a total of six competing teams and four individual competitors. The following teams were represented at the competition: Fontana H.S. MCJROTC (Fontana, California), Rio Salado Sportsman’s Junior Club (Mesa, Arizona), Sandra Day O’Connor H.S. AFJROTC (Phoenix, Arizona) and Tolleson H.S. MCJROTC (Tolleson, Arizona).

Kelsey Klauba from the Rio Salado Sportsman’s Junior Club claimed first place in the Precision competition with a score of 581-31X. The second place shooter in Precision was Xavier Ellis, also from the Rio Salado Sportsman’s Junior Club. Ellis posted a score of 569-26X. As for the precision shooter to claim third place, that was another Rio Salado Sportsman’s Junior Club shooter, Helena Tang, who walked away from the competition with a final score of 565-18X.

In the Sporter air rifle category, Stephanie Mendoza of the Fontana H.S. MCJROTC Team 1 came in first place with a score of 499-10X. The second place shooter in Sporter was Mileydi Corea of the Fontana H.S. MCJROTC Team 2 with a score of 491-4X. Taking third place in Sporter was Eliezer Moreno of Fontana H.S. MCJROTC Team 1 with a score of 473-1X.

All the competitors gathered for a photo after the match briefing and prior to competition.

The first place team was Rio Salado Sportsman’s Club Team 1 (Precision) with a score of 2271-98X. In second place was Sandra Day O’Connor H.S. AFJROTC Team 1 (Precision) with 1920-16X, while third place went to Fontana H.S. MCJROTC Team 2 (Sporter) with 1881-15X. Something else to note: this was the first year that Sandra Day O’Connor H.S. AFJROTC fielded a Precision team at the match.

We want to thank David Halbrook of NRA Days for taking care of us once again and making sure we had plenty of t-shirts, shirts, pins, safety cards and NRA Marksmanship Qualification Books available for competitors and spectators. We want to also thank the Mesa Hohokam Foundation for awarding us a financial grant this season to help us continue to pay the costs to have top-notch competitions in Arizona. Additionally, a big thank you goes to the Arizona Friends of the NRA for their continued support.

Runner-up in the team competition was Sandra Day O’Connor H.S. Team 1, featuring Logan Leonard, Shannon Allred and Morgan Lewis on the roster.

I want to thank the following people for continuing to volunteer as staff and range safety officers during our competitions, Chief Range Safety Officer Michael Schoenle of Goodyear, Arizona, Assistant Match Director and Jury Chairperson Greg McDiffett of Glendale, Arizona, and Range Safety Officer Ariana Cherry.

We are planning to continue to offer a 60- shot standing air rifle competition for both Precision and Sporter air rifles in the future. This match was a big success with great spectator involvement, and our athletes in Arizona feel that events like this one will only prepare them for the future when they arrive at the collegiate and Olympic levels of air rifle competitions.