231 juniors and 43 teams that qualified to represent their states in state championships competed at the Camp Perry, Ohio, air gun range for National Junior Olympic Precision Three-Position Air Rifle titles.

CAMP PERRY, OHIO - Denise Martin, 15, of Chewelah, Washington, fought off a strong performance by Kaitlin Pennell, 17, of Antelope, California with a resounding finish in the final to stake her claim to the 2009 Junior Olympic Three-Position Air Rifle Precision Class Championship with a final score of 103.4 and a new match record aggregate total of 1292.4.

Denise Martin, the 2009 Junior Olympic Precision Three-Position Individual.  Camp Perry Commander, COL Dean Brown, Ohio National Guard, presented her awards.

Pennell's 100.2 in the final gave her an aggregate total score of 1284.2 to win silver in the 10th annual Junior Olympic Championship at the CMP's Camp Perry Marksmanship Training Center. It was the first time the event was fired at Camp Perry's electronic-scoring range, which opened early last summer.

Cody Enders, 17, of Dauphin, Pennsylvania leapfrogged Catherine Green, Coventry, Rhode Island and Alivia Yeager, Louisville, Kentucky, in the final, going from the fifth position to third to capture the bronze medal. Green took fourth and Yeager finished fifth.

Martin took the lead after the first day of competition with a clean 20-shot prone performance with a score of 200-20. She followed with a standing score of 198-15 and a kneeling total of 197-13, for a first day aggregate total of 595-48.

Green edged Martin by one point on the second day with a 595-45. Martin finished with a 594-47. Tied after prone firing, Martin went ahead by one shot in the standing stage and Green outshot Martin with a two-point advantage in kneeling.

Pictured above are the eight finalists who competed for the Precision Individual Title.

The day-two stage was set for a finals showdown on Monday with Martin holding a five point lead over Green and Pennell, 1189 to 1184. Yeager started in the four spot in the final with an aggregate of 1182, while Enders (1181), Emily Holsopple, Matthew Martin and Andrea Vautrin rounded out the top eight tied with 1179. Six ties for positions six through eight in the final were broken by using "inner ten" counts.

The precision final began auspiciously for Denise Martin with a first shot score of 9.7. She also finished with a 9.8. However, a string of tens on all shots in between carried her to an eight-point margin of victory.

Denise Martin, the 2009 Junior Olympic Precision Three-Position Individual Champion.

"I still don't have that whole mental thing down yet," Denise Martin said afterward. "But I'm working real hard on it."

"These were really fun matches at a really nice range," she said.

Shooting for the Davenport Gun Club and Spokane Junior Rifle Club, she and her coaches Art Weatherford, Craig Spiers and her father, Charles Martin, believe she has a chance to earn a spot on the 2012 US Olympic shooting team which will compete in London, England.

"I was a little nervous coming into the day," Denise said later. "I guess things settled down during sighters in prone though."

California junior Kaitlin Pennell was awarded the silver medal by COL Brown during the awards ceremony on Monday evening.

 

Silver medalist Pennell, shooting for the Lincoln Rifle Club said she was excited to be in the final that was attended by an estimated 400 spectators.

"It was nerve-wracking and pretty stressful, but it was a lot of fun," she said. Coached by her father, Bill, she plans to attend Texas Christian University in the fall.

"I would also like to congratulate all the shooters who made it here," Pennell added. "They are great competitors."

When asked if she has Olympic shooting aspirations, Pennell said "I'm going the NCAA route and we'll see where it takes me - that would sure be nice."

COL Dean Brown presented Pennsylvania junior Cody Enders with the bronze medal he earned in the Precision Individual Championship.

Enders, who shoots with the Zerbe Junior Rifle Club, was very pleased with his finish in the final. In the hunt both days, Enders' 102.0 put him within two points of overtaking Pennell for the silver medal.

"I didn't expect that at all - I was very excited" Enders said afterward. "It was a really fun match."

Enders credits his coach Bill Earnest and his dad, Rick Enders, for helping him reach his shooting goals.

In team shooting, the Fort Benning Junior Rifle Club, Fort Benning, Georgia won the Club Team gold medal with an aggregate score of 4670- 303. Team members are  Jimmie Cooper, Andrea Vautrin, Forrest Klein and Breanna Kasl.

Lincoln Rifle Club 5150's of Lincoln, California scored a 4643-274 to win silver. Team members are Kaitlin Pennell, Brett Morrison, Jacob Carillo and Dustin McQueary.

Arlington Optimist Acorns Junior Rifle Club took home the bronze medal with an aggregate score of 4636-260. Team members are Emma Holman, Ryan Anderson, Virginia Holman and Lluy Morgan.

A crowd of spectators watch the Final at the conclusion of the Precision Junior Olympic Event. What is unique to competitions held at the CMP's Air Gun Range is that spectators from around the world can log onto the CMP's web site and watch live target images. A total of 20,000 hits were recorded during the Junior Olympics.