USA Shooting holds 2009 National Progressive Position Air Pistol Championship at the CMP's Camp Perry Marksmanship Center.

CAMP PERRY, OHIO - Jay Raymond, 16, of Canton, Mississippi, fired an aggregate score of 821.8-15 to win the individual gold medal in the 2009 USA Shooting/NRA Sports National Progressive Pistol Championship on 12 July at the CMP’s Camp Perry Air Gun Center.

Mississippi junior Jay Raymond was named the 2009 Progressive Pistol Individual Champion.

Raymond entered the Olympic-style open final in the top position after scoring identical first and second day qualifying rounds of 364 (728-15) . He came out of Division B, firing a pump-style air pistol. All competitors in the final were firing with the one-handed, unsupported position.

Matthew Pueppke, 17, of Amenia, North Dakota captured the silver medal with a total aggregate score of 812.6, narrowly defeating Kelsey Imig, 18, of Westminster, Massachusetts, by three-tenths of a point. Imig won bronze, but also won gold in the women's championship, firing an aggregate score of 812.3. Pueppke and Imig both fired in Division A, which is designated for pre-charged air pistols (CO2 or compressed air).

Raymond, a member of the Southwest Gun Club, said he was pretty excited about shooting in the CMP's new airgun range. He is coached by Mickey Brondum, a CMP State Junior Director from Louisiana.

"I've never seen anything like it," he said after the final, referring to the CMP Air Gun Center.

"I don't really like all the attention, but it was a lot of fun," he added.

Raymond is likely to attract more attention down the road. As a result of his performance, he was invited to join the National Junior Olympic Shooting Team, sponsored by USA Shooting.

Mike Krei, NRA Director of Competitions, awards Matthew Pueppke with a Silver Medal in the Progressive Pistol Individual Championship.

Pueppke, a member of the Gateway Pistol Club, whose hometown is populated by less than 100 residents in central North Dakota, said he wasn't happy with some of his shots in the final, but he strung together enough good shots to edge out Imig.

"I wasn't aware of where we stood during the final, so I was kind of surprised when I finished and realized I was second," Pueppke commented.

"I hope to shoot in college. I've shot rifle primarily in the past, but I'm going to have to decide what's best for me and concentrate on that," he added. "I'd kind of like to shoot in Alaska."

Kelsey Imig, 18, of Westminster, Massachusetts, earned a bronze medal in the open class and a gold medal in the women’s championship.

Imig, winner of the bronze medal in the open class and gold medal as the women's champion, is a first team NRA All-American air and sport pistol shooter at Ohio State University and will enter her sophomore year at Columbus this fall.

A member of the Gun Owners Action League (the Massachusetts State Firearms Association), Imig said she would have liked to have done better in the final, but was very pleased with her finish.

"I love this match and shooting with junior shooters who will be coming up into higher levels. It's really exciting to see the progression of young shooters," she said.

South Dakota junior Cheyenne Arbach earned the Women’s Silver Medal in the 2009 Progressive Pistol Championship. Mike Krei was the presenter.

Cheyenne Arbach, 16, of Marion, South Dakota, won the women's silver medal with an aggregate score of 782.9 with a finals score of 90.9, including a 10.8 fourth shot in the finale.

Starlin Shi, 15, of Potomac, Maryland and the Damascus Shooting Club, said she steadily improved throughout the event. She won the bronze medal in a close match with Arbach with an aggregate score of 781.2 and 87.2 in the final.

"Today I felt good. I picked up 12 points from yesterday and entering the final, my sighters were good," Shi said.

Starlin Shi, 15, earned a Bronze Medal. Mike Krei was the presenter.

It was Shi's first competitive match and she said she plans to go home and practice and looks forward to coming back next year.

The five-year-old progressive pistol competition was designed for young shooters up to and including the oldest juniors to provide fundamental pistol shooting development. Juniors of elementary school age begin with two-handed, tabletop supported air pistols and they advance through a series of developmental stages to the top level where they shoot one-handed, unsupported.

USA Shooting's Bob Foth explained that the US is turning greater attention to young pistol shooters and the methods of training employed. He said a great deal of emphasis is now being placed on sports science.

Foth was recently hired as USA Shooting's Paralympic Shooting Coach and Program Manager. He previously held the position of Youth Programs and Coach Development Manager for USAS and will retain some of those duties in his new position.

"We're being very careful now to keep the physical stress on children's arms and shoulders very low until a time when they can adequately support a pistol," he said.

As children "progress," as the match's title implies, they no longer require a pistol rest and eventually move into unsupported and one-handed categories. Competitors shoot two match courses of 40 shots each day.

For the oldest age group an Olympic-style finals is conducted for the top eight open and top eight female individuals based on two-day aggregate scores in the standing one-handed category (regardless of Division A or B equipment).

A huge crowd gathered for the Final at the CMP Camp Perry Marksmanship Center.

The final for females was a demonstration event in 2009 and females finishing in the top eight open positions also qualified to compete in the open final. The two finals were fired concurrently.

Mike Krei, Director of the NRA's Competitive Shooting Division, was on hand with Foth as representatives of the event co-sponsors. Krei recently replaced Colonel M.S. Gilchrist, who retired after leading the division since the early 90s. "We're really excited about the phenomena of airgun shooting in general," Krei said prior to the final. "Air pistol is a fast-growing sport in this country and will translate well into other shooting disciplines."

"NRA will be taking a larger leadership role in developing junior pistol competition and we look forward to a great partnership with USA Shooting as we work toward building an even larger grassroots development program.

"It's our ambition to bring more shooters into the sport and if they later choose to move into service pistol, bulls-eye or conventional pistol, that's fine - it's all good for the sport," Krei said.

In the three-member unsupported club team competition, the Carroll County Marksman Club of Georgia won the gold medal with an aggregate score of 2120-27. Team members are Jacob Hall, Michael Wilson and Ross Walker.

Goal 1 Club of Massachusetts won the silver medal with an aggregate score of 2058-14. Team members are Kelsey Imig, Aaron Tourigny and Juliana Granato.

Winning bronze was the Pennsylvania Rifle and Pistol Team with a total score of 2051-23. Team members are Joshua Zolko, Elizabeth Lutz and Caleb Zolko.

For complete individual and team results, log onto http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=4747.

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