COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (April 22, 2019)
Abbie Leverett, Paul Kang and the aptly named Madison Champion claimed top honors in their respective events at the 2019 National Junior Olympic Shooting Championships (NJOSC) Monday. Pistol and Paralympic Rifle events will conclude the three-week youth shooting showcase being held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
The 16-year-old Leverett (Bainbridge, Georgia) upheld the family name in the absence of her two older brothers as she’s using this event to shine the spotlight on her and her rising pistol skills. Abbie earned the overall championship in Women’s Sport Pistol, by a margin of 23 points and is an overall Junior Olympic champion for the first time after finishing third in this event last year. Her brothers Jack and Henry are in Beijing representing Team USA at the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup. A Leverett has now claimed gold at the NJOSC for five straight years now, and Abbie adds to an impressive medal haul of 17 top division medals during that stretch, including now eight victories. Finishing second was Sarah Choe (Los Angeles, California)followed by Ada Korkhin (Brookline, Massachusetts), who rebounded nicely after a rough 536 Qualification score Sunday. She shot 27 points higher Monday and beat Leverett in the Final.
Earning medals in the J2 (age 15-17) classification awards were Maria Tsarik (Lake Bluff, Illiniois) for gold, Riya Salian (North Attleboro, Massachusetts) for silver and Emily Yoder (Wolford, North Dakota) for bronze. In the J3 (ages 14 and younger) category, Annabell Yi (Diamond Bar, California) won gold, Suman Sanghera (Great Falls, Virginia) earned silver while Clarissa Haltiwanger (Little Mountain, South Carolina) finished third.