VSSA Junior Pistol State Championship

By Mark Budgeon

Twenty junior pistol athletes competed in the VSSA State Championship held Sunday, September 27, 2020. The NoVA Sharpshooters sponsored the competition which included two events: sport pistol and air pistol.

In the morning, six athletes gathered at the Rifle Pistol Range to compete in sport pistol. This event uses a .22 long rifle, semi-auto pistol with iron sights. Targets are placed at 25 yards. The 60-shot match includes two stages: precision and rapid fire. During the precision stage, shooters fire 30 shots at a precision target. This stage is very similar to NRA bullseye slow fire. During the rapid-fire stage, shooters fire 30 shots at a rapid-fire target. The rapid-fire stage is not like NRA bullseye. In sport pistol rapid fire, the shooters fire six series of five shots. The gun is held in the “ready” position which is 45 degrees from the horizontal. At the fire signal the shooter raises the gun to the target and has three seconds to fire the shot. Then the shooter returns to the “ready” position. This cycle continues until five shots are completed.

VSSA President, Joe Turner, presented awards to the top three competitors as well as medals to the winners in various age categories. It is worthy to note these six athletes went on to compete in the second event which was 10-meter air pistol.

Suman Sanghera Champion (Center), Ethan Jardines 2nd Place (Left), Victor Mou 3rd Place (Right), VSSA President Joe Turner (Right)

In the afternoon, fourteen juniors competed in the 10-meter air pistol match held at the Sills Air Range. During the 10-meter air pistol match, athletes used a .177 caliber air pistol with iron sights and fired 60 shots at an electronic target placed at 10 meters.

The air pistol event included two qualification relays with the top eight athletes going on to compete in a finals match. The finals match uses an elimination process. A total of 24 shots determines the winner of the finals match. Points from the finals match are then added to the qualification match score to determine the overall champion.

VSSA President, Joe Turner, presented awards to the top three competitors as well as medals to the winners in various age categories.

Suman Sanghera Champion (Center), Victor Mou 2rd Place (Left), Connor Shea 3rd Place (Right), VSSA President Joe Turner (Left)

Sport Pistol Competitors: Suman Sanghera (Champion), Ethan Jardines (2nd), Victor Mou (3rd), Ethan Greenhaw (J2 Gold), Josephine Mou (J2 Silver), Lauren Creese (J3 Gold)

Air Pistol Competitors: Suman Sanghera (Champion), Victor Mou (2nd), Connor Shea (3rd), Christina Alvarez (J2 Gold), Ethan Jardines (J2 Silver), Josephine Mou (J2 Bronze), Lauren Creese (J3 Gold), Landon Cerrone (J3 Silver), William Regala (J3 Bronze), Zachary Dantzlerward, Ethan Greenhaw, Erin Reeder, Olivia Creese, Graham Jardines