The Blue Trail Range Corporation (Blue Trail) partnered with Stratford PAL to host the Connecticut State Junior Olympic Air and Smallbore Rifle Championships in January 2024.
The competition started at the indoor range at Blue Trail Range in Wallingford, Connecticut. In the men’s events, Zachary coupled his win of capturing the Gold in both Smallbore & Air Rifle for four consecutive years; 2021, 2022, 2023, & 2024—this year firing a 569 in smallbore and 554 in air. In my 40+ years as a Match Director, I have never witnessed this accomplishment. While he began his shooting career at Blue Trail, he is currently a junior at Akron. Fellow teammate from Blue Trail Range and now a sophomore at Akron captured silver in air with a 552 and bronze in rifle (535). Chenrui Yuan, Metacon Gun Club Junior Rifle Club, fired a 547 to capture the silver medal in smallbore rifle.
Kelly Miller, Cos Cob Rifle & Revolver Junior Rifle Club, repeated Osvald’s feat for this year by capturing both Gold medals in smallbore rifle and air with scores of 561 and 578, respectively. A senior at Darien High School, she has been shooting since she was 10 and was the youngest junior shooter at Cos Cob to achieve the NRA Distinguished Expert Marksmanship Award, In the Women’s Smallbore Rifle, Prisha Thomas, Blue Trail Range, fired a 576 in air for the Silver and a 543 in smallbore rifle for the bronze. Hannah Talbott, Stratford PAL, fired a 573 in air for the bronze, and 548 in smallbore rifle.
Connecticut state champions will be invited to participate at the National Junior Olympic Shooting Championships. Others will then be picked up “at large” so we will have to wait until mid-February before those slots are announced. I always get asked, why should I join the Connecticut State Rifle & Revolver Association? Well, the state association generally votes every year to defray a portion of the travel expenses to Colorado with a small stipend paid to the parents for each event an athlete posts a score for at the Nationals.
Congratulations to all athletes that competed and the parents and coaches that continue to be ambassadors to the shooting sports.
Connecticut State Rifle & Revolver Association