AC 4-H Rifle Athlete places at National Championship
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In an event often called the “World Series of Shooting Sports”, athletes from across the nation gather at Camp Perry in Port Clinton, OH for a month-long series of marksmanship competitions. For Appling County 4-H S.A.F.E. Air Rifle athlete, Emma Allen, that qualification process began last December. Emma fired a paper qualification match from her home range at the Appling County Ag Center and earned her invitation to the Civilian Marksmanship Programs Regional Match in Anniston, AL. However, before regionals, Emma competed in the Georgia CMP State Championships where she scored high enough to earn an automatic invitation to the National Matches at Camp Perry.
Months of dedicated practice at home, the Ag Center, and even traveling out of town to practice on ranges with electronic target helped Emma hone her skills and perfect her technique and strategy. In the process, Emma earned high marks at the Georgia 4-H State Match, CMP Monthly matches, and earned a coveted invitation to the American Legion National Championships. Emma’s trips to Anniston, Alabama and Griffin, Georgia for matches allowed her to gain experience in high stress conditions of the shoulder-to-shoulder finals that resemble the National Matches and in Olympic competition.
The CMP National Matches are broken into different match dates for Sporter Air Rifle and Precision Air Rifle athletes. The Sporter Air Rifle class held their National Championships on June 19-21, 2025. Emma reported for equipment inspection and a practice round Thursday, June 19 along with 190 other athletes. Record competition began on Friday, June 20th where Emma finished day one in First-Place for her relay and in the Top 10 Overall. Day 2 of regular competition ended with Emma as the Second-Place athlete on her relay and she rose to number 7 for Overall Standing – an exciting achievement as the top 8 athletes are invited to attend the Finals. During Finals, athlete’s scores are reset to zero, and they shoot shoulder-to-shoulder in all three positions. The athletes shoot in 5 shot sequences until they get to elimination shots. The athletes have 45 seconds to shoot each shot with the lowest finals aggregate score being eliminated. The athletes continue with elimination shots until a National Champion is crowned.
After making her way through every round and completing the Finals, Emma Allen finished in 5th Place! We are incredibly proud of Emma and this magnificent accomplishment. She has one more National Championship match to attend in the 2025-2026 rifle season where she will travel to Hillsdale, Michigan to compete in the American Legion National Air Rifle Championships. We wish her all the best as she continues in the final steps of this season as an Air Rifle Athlete!
