Virginia’s Junior Olympic Pistol Athletes

The Commonwealth has seen an explosive growth in junior Olympic pistol shooters in the past year with a record 23 qualifications for the National Junior Olympic Shooting Championship. Athletes competed in 10-meter Air Pistol and/or 25-meter Sport Pistol, both of which are Olympic events. In order to receive an invitation to the national championship, athletes must have achieved a qualifying score at a junior Olympic state championship.

The Virginia Junior Olympic Championship for Air Pistol was held in Centreville and hosted by the Arlington-Fairfax Izaak Walton League. The Sport Pistol championship was held in Fairfax at the NRA Headquarters Range. 25-meter Sport Pistol and 10-meter Air Pistol are Olympic events which are regulated by USA Shooting, the national governing board for Olympic shooting sports. Junior athletes from across the Commonwealth recently received invitations to compete in the national championship which is held at the National Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 the event has been postponed until later this season.

Both the 25-meter Sport Pistol and 10-meter Air Pistol Virginia Junior Olympic Championships were organized by Coach Mark Budgeon of the NoVA Sharpshooters. Arlington-Fairfaix Izaak Walton League President Mr. Tom Ciarula was on hand for both competitions to award USA Shooting medals to the top athletes. Coach Budgeon has been the driving force in the explosive growth of Olympic pistol in Virginia having personally coached the overwhelming majority of the athletes who received an invitation on the NoVA Sharpshooters and LoCo Motion teams.

(over 20 athletes from across the Commonwealth participated)

The following athletes received invitations to National Junior Olympic Shooting Championship:

(Left to right:  Lauren Creese - Bronze, Cristina Alvarez – Silver and Suman Sanghera State Champion)

Women’s Air Pistol
Christina Alvarez – NoVA Sharpshooters
Lauren Creese – NoVA Sharpshooters
Lillianna Holland – Independent Athlete
Josephine Mou – NoVA Sharpshooters
Suman Sanghera – NoVA Sharpshooters (State Champion)

(Left to right:  Derek Liddle – Bronze, Ethan Jardines – Silver, Bhavjeet Sanghera State Champion)

Men’s Air Pistol
Justin Berry – Rockingham 4-H Rockin’ Shots
Zachary Dantzlerward – NoVA Sharpshooters
Paine Gronemeyer – NoVA Sharpshooters
Ethan Jardines – NoVA Sharpshooters
Derek Liddle – Rockingham 4-H Rockin’ Shots
Victor Mou – NoVA Sharpshooters
William Regala – NoVA Sharpshooters
Bhavjeet Sanghera – NoVA Sharpshooters (State Champion)
Connor Shea – NoVA Sharpshooters

(Left to right:  Lori Ann Madison – Silver, Suman Sanghera – Gold, Paine Gronemeyer – Bronze, Victor Mou – Gold, Josephine Mou – Bronze, Bhavjeet Sanghera – Silver)

Women’s Sport Pistol
Lori Ann Madison – NoVA Sharpshooters
Josephine Mou – NoVA Sharpshooters
Suman Sanghera – NoVA Sharpshooters (State Champion)

Men’s Sport Pistol
Jack Bright – Team LoCo Motion
Maccoy Gilkison – Team LoCo Motion
Paine Gronemeyer – NoVA Sharpshooters
Ethan Jardines – Team LoCo Motion
Victor Mou – NoVA Sharpshooters (State Champion)
Bhavjeet Sanghera – NoVA Sharpshooters