USA Shooting Juniors Return Home with 21 Medals and Four New Junior World Champions
Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2021 11:33 am
USA Shooting juniors return stateside with 21 medals, including four new Junior World Champions from Junior World Championships in Lima, Peru held September 28-October 9, 2021. 47 juniors competed in 30 events bringing home 12 rifle medals, six shotgun medals and three pistol medals, resulting in the second highest country medal count only behind India. The field included over 400 athletes and 30 different countries.
Eight different athletes won 12 rifle medals in all five Olympic events, further showcasing the depth of the U.S. rifle program that has seen a resurgence in the past Olympic cycle. Will Shaner won gold once again in the 10m Air Rifle Men’s event. The Tokyo Olympic Champion added his first Junior World Champion title to his name to kick things off for Team USA. Teammate Rylan Kissell took bronze in the same event at his Junior World Championship debut. Other standout rifle medalists include freshman rifle athlete at University of Alaska Fairbanks, Gavin Barnick, who won bronze in the 50m 3 Position Rifle Men’s event and another bronze in the 50m 3 Position Rifle Men’s Team event with fellow NCAA teammate Kissell, and Braden Peiser. Another silver was won by the men’s rifle team of Shaner, Kissell and John Blanton in the 10m Team Air event.
Tokyo Olympic Silver Medalist, Mary Tucker, battled in a shoot-off in the 10m Air Rifle Women’s event finals with Oceanne Muller from France which landed her a well-fought for silver. Tucker would go on to win a whopping five additional medals at Junior World Championships including silver in 50m Prone Rifle Women, bronze in 50m 3 Position Rifle Women, gold in 10m Mixed Team Air Rifle with fellow University of Kentucky teammate, Shaner, bronze in 50m Prone Mixed Team Rifle with training partner, Barnick, and finally a bronze in 50m 3 Position Team Rifle Women with Molly McGhin and Katie Zaun. McGhin, the sophomore at West Virginia University, would team up with Peiser in the 50m Prone Mixed Rifle event to capture the silver medal for Team USA.
Pistol saw their fair share of excitement at the Junior World Championships with Tokyo Olympian and Ohio State athlete, Henry Leverett, departing Lima as a new Junior World Champion in the Men’s Rapid Fire event. The Men’s Air Pistol team consisting of 2021 Junior Olympic Champion, Remington Smith, Hunter Battig, and Wes Anderson won Air Pistol Team Men’s bronze in a thrilling final in a true display of teamwork. Katelyn Abeln, another Ohio State University Pistol athlete, qualified for the finals in the 25m Sport Pistol Women’s event where she finished 7th place overall. Abeln, Ada Korkhin, and Abbie Leverett (younger sister of Leverett) won silver in the 25m Precision and Rapid-Fire Pistol Team Women. Abeln also teamed up with Suman Sanghera, and Annabell Yi resulting in a 4th place finish in the Air Pistol Team Women.
The depth of the U.S. shotgun team was on full display as they won six medals and crowned two new Junior World Champions in Lima. Alishia Fayth Layne captured the Junior World Champion title in the Skeet Women’s event in a nail-biting final. Teammate Elijah Ellis immediately followed her feat with a Junior World Championship title of his own when he took first place in the Men’s Skeet event with Jordan Sapp winning silver. The Men’s Skeet Team of Sapp, Ellis, and Ben Keller won silver in an exciting and emotionally charged final against the men’s Italian team. Reigning National Champion, Ryann Phillips clinched silver in the Women’s Trap event, and the team of Faith Pendergrass, Sydney Krieger, and Bethany High won gold in the Women’s Trap Team event.
Full results and live stream replays can be found on the ISSF website (https://www.issf-sports.org/competition ... hipid=2992) and scores for the U.S. athletes by event are listed below:
RIFLE
10m Air Rifle Men:
1st Place, Will Shaner, 630.7 + 250.7
3rd Rylan Kissell, 623.7 + 228.2
19th Gavin Barnick, 620.2
22nd John Blanton, 619.9
50m 3 Position Rifle Men:
3rd Gavin Barnick, 1168-49x + 456.6
5th Rylan Kissell, 1167-53x + 426.0
8th Braden Peiser, 1170-56x + 398.6
18th Will Shaner, 1155-37x
20th Kyle Kutz, 1154-43x
50m Rifle Prone Men:
4th Kyle Kutz, 621.5
9th Braden Peiser, 618.3
11th Will Shaner, 617.8
16th Gavin Barnick, 612.5
20th Rylan Kissell, 610.6
10m Air Rifle Women:
2nd Mary Tucker, 632.1 + 250.6 (S-off: 10.0, 1st: 10.4) (New USA Shooting Junior National Record)
15th Natalie Perrin, 625.3
30th Molly McGhin, 620.1
31st Katie Zaun, 619.7
47th Rachael Charles, 614.4
50m 3 Positions Rifle Women:
3rd Mary Tucker, 1178-64x + 443.8
8th Molly McGhin, 1172-65x + 396.0
13th Katie Zaun, 1163-46x
14th Kristen Derting, 1162-51x
24th Julianna Hays, 1154-42x
43rd Bremen Butler, 1140-36x
50m Prone Rifle Women:
2nd Mary Tucker, 622.3
9th Molly McGhin, 617.5
20th Katie Zaun, 614.4
30th Kristen Derting, 611.2
36th Julianna Hays, 606.5
38th Bremen Butler, 605.2
10m Mixed Team Air Rifle:
1st Team 1 (Mary Tucker and Will Shaner), 625.7 + 209.6 + 17
8th Team 2 (Katie Zaun and Rylan Kissel), 625.4 + 205.3
50m 3 Positions Mixed Team Rifle:
5th Team 1 (Mary Tucker and Will Shaner), 870-28x + 582-26x [EWRJ]
7th Team 2 (Katie Zaun and Rylan Kissel), 874-39x + 205.3 + 580-20x [EWRJ]
50m Prone Mixed Team Rifle:
2nd Team 2 (Molly McGhin and Braden Peiser), 613.8 + 416.3 + 5
3rd Team 1 (Mary Tucker and Gavin Barnick), 614.1 + 410.9 + 16
Team Air Rifle Men:
2nd Team (Will Shaner, Rylan Kissel, John Blanton), 1874.2 + 622.5 + 6
Team Air Rifle Women:
8th Team (Mary Tucker, Molly McGhin, Katie Zaun), 1871.9 + 619.3
50m 3 Positions Team Rifle Men:
3rd Team (Rylan Kissel, Gavin Barnick, Braden Peiser), 1306-52x [WRJ] + 860-35x + 46
50m 3 Positions Team Rifle Women:
3rd Team (Mary Tucker, Molly McGhin, Katie Zaun), 1315-74x [WRJ] + 878-48x [WRJ] + 47
PISTOL
10m Air Pistol Men:
15th Hunter Battig, 570-10x
20th Remington Smith, 568-16x
36th Paul Kang, 557-11x
37th Wesley Anderson, 556-13x
25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men:
1st Henry Leverett, 288-07x + 579-15x + 32
13th Paul Kang, 284-05x + 559-12x
10m Air Pistol Women:
14th Suman Sanghera, 567-10x
23rd Annabell Yi, 562-10x
28th Katelyn Abeln, 558-12x
34th Ada Korkhin, 554-09x
25m Precision and Rapid-Fire Pistol Women:
7th Katelyn Abeln, 580-08x + 14 [SO, S-off: 4)
11th Abbie Leverett, 572-18x
23rd Ada Korkhin, 562-14x
26th Annabell Yi, 561-10x
25m Precision and Rapid-Fire Pistol Team Women:
2nd Team (Katelyn Abeln, Abbie Leverett, Ada Korkhin), 437-18x + 4
10m Air Pistol Mixed Team:
11th Team 1 (Katelyn Abeln and Remington Smith), 564-11x
15th Team 2 (Suman Sanghera and Hunter Battig), 561-11x
10m Air Pistol Team Men:
3rd Team (Hunter Battig , Remington Smith, Wes Anderson), 1694-39x + 560-12x + 16
10m Air Pistol Team Women:
4th Team (Suman Sanghera, Annabell Yi, Katelyn Abeln), 1687-32x + 563-14x + 14
SHOTGUN
Trap Men:
4th Owen Bin, 119+6 + 24
8th Emilio Carvalho, 116
10th Grayson Davey, 114
16th Tristan Schroder, 112
24th Jack Nelson, 108
27th Vicente Mercado, 103
Skeet Men:
1st Elijah Ellis, 117 + 53
2nd Jordan Sapp, 120 + 52
13th Joshua Grganto, 111
14th Ben Keller, 110
16th Luck Priestly 108
Trap Women:
2nd Ryann Phillips, 111+5 + 40
5th Carey Garrison, 118 +19
9th Sydney Krieger, 110
11th Sidney Coffin, 108
13th Faith Pendergrass, 107
17th Bethany High, 100
Skeet Women:
1st Alishia Layne, 115 + 46+2
13th Karsyn Ross, 102
19th Jessi Griffin, 98
24th Haidyn Stewart, 86
Trap Mixed Team:
6th Team 2 (Jack Nelson, Bethany High), 130
8th Team 1 (Grayson Davey, Faith Pendergrass), 128
Skeet Mixed Team:
5th Team 2 (Elijah Ellis, Karsyn Ross), 134
8th Team 1 (Ben Keller, Jessi Griffin), 127
Trap Team Men:
4th Team (Grayson Davey, Jack Nelson, Tristan Schroder), 472 + 2
Trap Team Women:
1st Team (Faith Pendergrass, Sydney Krieger, Bethany High), 450 + 6
Skeet Team Men:
2nd Team (Jordan Sapp, Ben Keller, Elijah Ellis), 487 + 4
Skeet Team Women:
5th Team (Haidyn Stewart, Karsyn Ross, Jessi Griffin), 408
The full U.S. roster can be found in a previous release on the USA Shooting website (https://www.usashooting.org/news/2021/9 ... tolshotgun).
Eight different athletes won 12 rifle medals in all five Olympic events, further showcasing the depth of the U.S. rifle program that has seen a resurgence in the past Olympic cycle. Will Shaner won gold once again in the 10m Air Rifle Men’s event. The Tokyo Olympic Champion added his first Junior World Champion title to his name to kick things off for Team USA. Teammate Rylan Kissell took bronze in the same event at his Junior World Championship debut. Other standout rifle medalists include freshman rifle athlete at University of Alaska Fairbanks, Gavin Barnick, who won bronze in the 50m 3 Position Rifle Men’s event and another bronze in the 50m 3 Position Rifle Men’s Team event with fellow NCAA teammate Kissell, and Braden Peiser. Another silver was won by the men’s rifle team of Shaner, Kissell and John Blanton in the 10m Team Air event.
Tokyo Olympic Silver Medalist, Mary Tucker, battled in a shoot-off in the 10m Air Rifle Women’s event finals with Oceanne Muller from France which landed her a well-fought for silver. Tucker would go on to win a whopping five additional medals at Junior World Championships including silver in 50m Prone Rifle Women, bronze in 50m 3 Position Rifle Women, gold in 10m Mixed Team Air Rifle with fellow University of Kentucky teammate, Shaner, bronze in 50m Prone Mixed Team Rifle with training partner, Barnick, and finally a bronze in 50m 3 Position Team Rifle Women with Molly McGhin and Katie Zaun. McGhin, the sophomore at West Virginia University, would team up with Peiser in the 50m Prone Mixed Rifle event to capture the silver medal for Team USA.
Pistol saw their fair share of excitement at the Junior World Championships with Tokyo Olympian and Ohio State athlete, Henry Leverett, departing Lima as a new Junior World Champion in the Men’s Rapid Fire event. The Men’s Air Pistol team consisting of 2021 Junior Olympic Champion, Remington Smith, Hunter Battig, and Wes Anderson won Air Pistol Team Men’s bronze in a thrilling final in a true display of teamwork. Katelyn Abeln, another Ohio State University Pistol athlete, qualified for the finals in the 25m Sport Pistol Women’s event where she finished 7th place overall. Abeln, Ada Korkhin, and Abbie Leverett (younger sister of Leverett) won silver in the 25m Precision and Rapid-Fire Pistol Team Women. Abeln also teamed up with Suman Sanghera, and Annabell Yi resulting in a 4th place finish in the Air Pistol Team Women.
The depth of the U.S. shotgun team was on full display as they won six medals and crowned two new Junior World Champions in Lima. Alishia Fayth Layne captured the Junior World Champion title in the Skeet Women’s event in a nail-biting final. Teammate Elijah Ellis immediately followed her feat with a Junior World Championship title of his own when he took first place in the Men’s Skeet event with Jordan Sapp winning silver. The Men’s Skeet Team of Sapp, Ellis, and Ben Keller won silver in an exciting and emotionally charged final against the men’s Italian team. Reigning National Champion, Ryann Phillips clinched silver in the Women’s Trap event, and the team of Faith Pendergrass, Sydney Krieger, and Bethany High won gold in the Women’s Trap Team event.
Full results and live stream replays can be found on the ISSF website (https://www.issf-sports.org/competition ... hipid=2992) and scores for the U.S. athletes by event are listed below:
RIFLE
10m Air Rifle Men:
1st Place, Will Shaner, 630.7 + 250.7
3rd Rylan Kissell, 623.7 + 228.2
19th Gavin Barnick, 620.2
22nd John Blanton, 619.9
50m 3 Position Rifle Men:
3rd Gavin Barnick, 1168-49x + 456.6
5th Rylan Kissell, 1167-53x + 426.0
8th Braden Peiser, 1170-56x + 398.6
18th Will Shaner, 1155-37x
20th Kyle Kutz, 1154-43x
50m Rifle Prone Men:
4th Kyle Kutz, 621.5
9th Braden Peiser, 618.3
11th Will Shaner, 617.8
16th Gavin Barnick, 612.5
20th Rylan Kissell, 610.6
10m Air Rifle Women:
2nd Mary Tucker, 632.1 + 250.6 (S-off: 10.0, 1st: 10.4) (New USA Shooting Junior National Record)
15th Natalie Perrin, 625.3
30th Molly McGhin, 620.1
31st Katie Zaun, 619.7
47th Rachael Charles, 614.4
50m 3 Positions Rifle Women:
3rd Mary Tucker, 1178-64x + 443.8
8th Molly McGhin, 1172-65x + 396.0
13th Katie Zaun, 1163-46x
14th Kristen Derting, 1162-51x
24th Julianna Hays, 1154-42x
43rd Bremen Butler, 1140-36x
50m Prone Rifle Women:
2nd Mary Tucker, 622.3
9th Molly McGhin, 617.5
20th Katie Zaun, 614.4
30th Kristen Derting, 611.2
36th Julianna Hays, 606.5
38th Bremen Butler, 605.2
10m Mixed Team Air Rifle:
1st Team 1 (Mary Tucker and Will Shaner), 625.7 + 209.6 + 17
8th Team 2 (Katie Zaun and Rylan Kissel), 625.4 + 205.3
50m 3 Positions Mixed Team Rifle:
5th Team 1 (Mary Tucker and Will Shaner), 870-28x + 582-26x [EWRJ]
7th Team 2 (Katie Zaun and Rylan Kissel), 874-39x + 205.3 + 580-20x [EWRJ]
50m Prone Mixed Team Rifle:
2nd Team 2 (Molly McGhin and Braden Peiser), 613.8 + 416.3 + 5
3rd Team 1 (Mary Tucker and Gavin Barnick), 614.1 + 410.9 + 16
Team Air Rifle Men:
2nd Team (Will Shaner, Rylan Kissel, John Blanton), 1874.2 + 622.5 + 6
Team Air Rifle Women:
8th Team (Mary Tucker, Molly McGhin, Katie Zaun), 1871.9 + 619.3
50m 3 Positions Team Rifle Men:
3rd Team (Rylan Kissel, Gavin Barnick, Braden Peiser), 1306-52x [WRJ] + 860-35x + 46
50m 3 Positions Team Rifle Women:
3rd Team (Mary Tucker, Molly McGhin, Katie Zaun), 1315-74x [WRJ] + 878-48x [WRJ] + 47
PISTOL
10m Air Pistol Men:
15th Hunter Battig, 570-10x
20th Remington Smith, 568-16x
36th Paul Kang, 557-11x
37th Wesley Anderson, 556-13x
25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men:
1st Henry Leverett, 288-07x + 579-15x + 32
13th Paul Kang, 284-05x + 559-12x
10m Air Pistol Women:
14th Suman Sanghera, 567-10x
23rd Annabell Yi, 562-10x
28th Katelyn Abeln, 558-12x
34th Ada Korkhin, 554-09x
25m Precision and Rapid-Fire Pistol Women:
7th Katelyn Abeln, 580-08x + 14 [SO, S-off: 4)
11th Abbie Leverett, 572-18x
23rd Ada Korkhin, 562-14x
26th Annabell Yi, 561-10x
25m Precision and Rapid-Fire Pistol Team Women:
2nd Team (Katelyn Abeln, Abbie Leverett, Ada Korkhin), 437-18x + 4
10m Air Pistol Mixed Team:
11th Team 1 (Katelyn Abeln and Remington Smith), 564-11x
15th Team 2 (Suman Sanghera and Hunter Battig), 561-11x
10m Air Pistol Team Men:
3rd Team (Hunter Battig , Remington Smith, Wes Anderson), 1694-39x + 560-12x + 16
10m Air Pistol Team Women:
4th Team (Suman Sanghera, Annabell Yi, Katelyn Abeln), 1687-32x + 563-14x + 14
SHOTGUN
Trap Men:
4th Owen Bin, 119+6 + 24
8th Emilio Carvalho, 116
10th Grayson Davey, 114
16th Tristan Schroder, 112
24th Jack Nelson, 108
27th Vicente Mercado, 103
Skeet Men:
1st Elijah Ellis, 117 + 53
2nd Jordan Sapp, 120 + 52
13th Joshua Grganto, 111
14th Ben Keller, 110
16th Luck Priestly 108
Trap Women:
2nd Ryann Phillips, 111+5 + 40
5th Carey Garrison, 118 +19
9th Sydney Krieger, 110
11th Sidney Coffin, 108
13th Faith Pendergrass, 107
17th Bethany High, 100
Skeet Women:
1st Alishia Layne, 115 + 46+2
13th Karsyn Ross, 102
19th Jessi Griffin, 98
24th Haidyn Stewart, 86
Trap Mixed Team:
6th Team 2 (Jack Nelson, Bethany High), 130
8th Team 1 (Grayson Davey, Faith Pendergrass), 128
Skeet Mixed Team:
5th Team 2 (Elijah Ellis, Karsyn Ross), 134
8th Team 1 (Ben Keller, Jessi Griffin), 127
Trap Team Men:
4th Team (Grayson Davey, Jack Nelson, Tristan Schroder), 472 + 2
Trap Team Women:
1st Team (Faith Pendergrass, Sydney Krieger, Bethany High), 450 + 6
Skeet Team Men:
2nd Team (Jordan Sapp, Ben Keller, Elijah Ellis), 487 + 4
Skeet Team Women:
5th Team (Haidyn Stewart, Karsyn Ross, Jessi Griffin), 408
The full U.S. roster can be found in a previous release on the USA Shooting website (https://www.usashooting.org/news/2021/9 ... tolshotgun).