Every year USA Shooting invites shooting clubs across the United States of America to host qualification matches called Junior Olympic State Championships (JOSCs). These events allow junior athletes to compete shoulder-to-shoulder with their counterparts from across their resident state as well as non-residents. For the past three years, the NoVA Sharpshooters have hosted these qualification matches at the Arlington-Fairfax Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America.
This year athletes, parents and coaches all pitched in to put this event together in spite of the COVID 19 pandemic. Following Virginia guidelines, the club successfully hosted the Sport Pistol and Air Pistol JOSCs allowing 26 athletes to compete for qualification scores and potential invitations to the USA Shooting Junior Olympics planned for 2021.
On Sunday morning, November 22nd, seven athletes from the NoVA Sharpshooters and Team LocoMotion met at the Rifle Pistol Range for a 60 shot Sport Pistol match. Suman Sanghera placed first winning the Junior Women gold medal and also recognition as the Virginia State Champion. Josephine Mou won the silver medal and Lauren Creese won the bronze. For the junior men, Victor Mou won the gold medal, Ethan Jardines placed second winning the silver medal and William Regala won bronze.
 |
| Sport Pistol JOSC (L to R): Suman Sanghera, Ethan Greenhaw, Josephine Mou, Ethan Jardines, Lauren Creese, Victor Mou, William Regala |
| |
After the sport pistol match, these seven athletes participated in the air pistol JOSC held across the road at the Sills Air Range. Nineteen junior athletes from the NoVA Sharpshooters, Team LocoMotion (Purcellville), Rockin’ Rockets (Rockingham County 4-H), Lafayette Gun Club (Grafton) and an independent shooter from Frederick, Maryland competed in the 60 shot match. Since there were six or more competitors in each gender category, a state champion could be named for both the junior men and the junior women.
For the junior women, Suman Sanghera again placed first winning the gold medal and recognition at the state junior women champion. Makenzie Anne Wygans from the Lafayette Gun Club won silver and Christina Alvarez won bronze. For the junior men, Bhavjeet Sanghera placed first winning the gold medal and recognition as the state junior men champion. Victor Mou won silver and William Regala won bronze.
 |
| Air Pistol JOSC (L to R): Makenzie Anne Wygans, William Regala, Christina Alvarez, Victor Mou, Suman Sanghera, Ethan Greenhaw, Josephine Mou, Zachary Dantzlerward, Madeline Matney, Connor Shea (nine athletes not pictured) |
These athletes scored high enough to earn automatic invites to the 2021 Junior Olympics: Suman Sanghera (sport and air pistol), Bhavjeet Sanghera (air pistol) and William Regala (air pistol). When all the clubs across the country complete their matches and report their scores, USA Shooting will establish cutoff scores for each event and age category. Then USA Shooting will extend invitations to athletes for the 2021 Junior Olympics. The Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs is the traditional location for the USA Shooting Junior Olympics. However, the facility is restricted to preparing the USA Team for the Summer Olympics. USA Shooting will announce the location for the Junior Olympics at a later date.
Congratulations to these junior athletes and their parents and thanks to coaches Lei-Ann Chang, Tim Greenhaw, Jennifer Alvarez for taking the time to lead the program. Only in its fourth year, the NoVA Sharpshooters Junior Shooting Program has grown to be the largest and most successful junior international pistol program in the state of Virginia.
Posts
