2022 North Dakota USA Shooting Junior Olympic Championship Results

Rick Jorgensen
·3 min read

DEVILS LAKE - Earning the invitation to compete in the USA Shooting Junior Olympic National Championships is the annual goal of the best young rifle and pistol shooters in our nation.

The 2022 North Dakota Junior Olympic rifle selection matches held at the Minot Rifle and Pistol Club range offer young shooters from across North Dakota a singular opportunity to earn invitations to compete in these Junior Olympic National Championships.

Isaac Vaagen, Jacob Vaagen, Hannah Vaagen, Rachel Vaagen, Lauren Stiven, Nate Steinhaus, and Casia Steinhaus, all of whom are junior members of the Lake Region Shooting Sports Association, traveled to Minot to fire the matches last weekend.
Isaac Vaagen, Jacob Vaagen, Hannah Vaagen, Rachel Vaagen, Lauren Stiven, Nate Steinhaus, and Casia Steinhaus, all of whom are junior members of the Lake Region Shooting Sports Association, traveled to Minot to fire the matches last weekend.

The National Championship matches will be held from May 11-15 this year. The location will be at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, MI. There are few things that mean more to youth across America who participate in the shooting sports than the opportunity to compete in the National Junior Olympic Shooting Championships (NJOSC). So, these are very important and tough matches for these young people, because they offer the only route to earn an opportunity to compete in the Junior Olympic Nationals. They either shoot a qualifying score during these matches or they simply cannot compete at the Nationals.

The National Championship matches will be held from May 11-15 this year. The location will be at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, MI.
The National Championship matches will be held from May 11-15 this year. The location will be at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, MI.

Isaac Vaagen, Jacob Vaagen, Hannah Vaagen, Rachel Vaagen, Lauren Stiven, Nate Steinhaus, and Casia Steinhaus, all of whom are junior members of the Lake Region Shooting Sports Association, traveled to Minot to fire the matches last weekend. When the firing was complete, Jacob, 19, had earned two medals, a Silver in Men’s Smallbore Rifle and a Silver in Men’s Air Rifle. Hannah fired a fine score of 572 to finish 4th overall of the 30 young men and women who competed in air rifle.

USA Shooting will review all of the scores fired by juniors across the United States, and based on how their scores compare to the others in their age groups across the nation, USA Shooting will very possibly extend further invitations to compete in the air rifle matches at these national championships as well.
USA Shooting will review all of the scores fired by juniors across the United States, and based on how their scores compare to the others in their age groups across the nation, USA Shooting will very possibly extend further invitations to compete in the air rifle matches at these national championships as well.

Casia Steinhaus, age 16, in her 4th experience with this annual qualification match, competed in both air rifle and smallbore rifle. She fired a Bronze Medal winning score of 581 out of 600, with her air rifle. She then followed with a Silver Medal winning score of 572 with her smallbore rifle. Casia’s 581 has earned an automatic invitation to compete with her air rifle at the national matches. She is likely to earn an invitation to compete with her smallbore rifle as well, as her 572 is a score that few juniors achieve in the USA.

USA Shooting will review all of the scores fired by juniors across the United States, and based on how their scores compare to the others in their age groups across the nation, USA Shooting will very possibly extend further invitations to compete in the air rifle matches at these national championships as well.

These young rifle competitors have been training for years in an effort to earn these invitations to compete shoulder to shoulder with the best junior air rifle and smallbore rifle shooters in the nation. We look forward to the final USA Shooting selections sometime in early March to find out whether any more of our Devils Lake juniors will receive invitations. Thanks to everyone in the Lake Region who have provided support for these young athletes.

The complete match scores from the North Dakota Junior Olympic Championship matches are available at Orion Results: http://www.orionresults.com/lrssand

This article originally appeared on Devils Lake Journal: 2022 North Dakota USA Shooting Junior Olympic Championship Results