NJOSC Skeet: McGrath and Connor

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. (July 23, 2010)

The conclusion of this year’s National Junior Olympic Shooting Championships (NJOSC) brought shoot-offs and high excitement. The gold medalist, Jon Michael McGrath, shot up from fourth place with a perfect 25 X 25 in the final round. McGrath gained a two target lead over the rest of the competition, finishing with 145 total targets, missing just five targets overall. Phillip Jungman, William Brazell, and Thomas Coggins were all tied at 143 targets after the final. A shoot-off between the three quickly eliminated Coggins as he missed one bird; Jungman and Brazell turned up the heat as Brazell aimed and broke two, and Jungman echoed. When Brazell missed one target, Jungman held the crowd in suspense as he calmly fired on his last bird of the pair. A clean break assured the silver medal for Jungman, and Brazell became the bronze medalist. The high shooter of the J2 category was Granger DeWitt at 121 targets. DeWitt also finished sixth in the open division after losing a shoot-off to TJ Bayer. The J2 silver medalist was TJ Bayer at 118 targets (his open final does not count toward category awards). Luis Gloria was the bronze medalist at 118 targets. Coulter DeWitt was the high J3 winner. DeWitt was leaps and bounds above the competition at 108 targets. The silver medalist was Will Dunnebacke at 99 targets. Also scoring 99 targets was the bronze medalist Cole Britt.

Women’s Skeet brought fierce competition between Resident Athletes Caitlin Connor and Jaiden Grinnell. Grinnell was leading by two targets after the first day of competition, but lost her stride as she shot a 42/50 in day two. Connor’s strong performance left her with a five target lead heading into the final, which she maintained throughout with a strong 25 target final. Connor, the gold medalist, finished at 144 targets and Grinnell, the silver medalist, scored 139 targets. The bronze medalist was Morgan Craft at 136 targets. The high J2 shotgunner was Brandy Drozd at 106 targets. Drozd also finished fourth in the open division. The silver medalist, and new to the podium, was Riley Moody at 97 targets. In third was Brianne Radulovich at 96 targets. USA Shooting would like to recognize its volunteers for their hard work and dedication during not only the NJOSC competition, but also the USA Shooting National Championships for Shotgun.

For complete scores, please visit the competition results.

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