Men’s Top Three Jr. Olympic Rifle

The frigid weather conditions in February didn’t hamper the 50 Small-bore shooters and the 65 Air Rifle shooters from driving to Somerset County, from all over Pennsylvania, to compete in the 2020-2021 PENNSYLVANIA JUNIOR OLYMPIC STATE SMALLBORE & AIR RIFLE CHAMPIONSHIPS (JORC) held at the Jerome Sportsmen’s Indoor Range.

The Jerome Scoring Staff is pleased to report the Official Scores from the “Men’s Events” in both the Small-bore – 22 Caliber and the Air Rifle -177. Caliber events. Below are the “Top Three” in each.

The “Top Three” marksmen in the Men’s Smallbore Division are, in order, Griffin Lake, Hayden Bell and Joshua Potts. These three young men dominated their division, among 59 other shooters, and they also show up in the “Top Three” of the Air Rifle Division.

In First Place is “Top Shot”, Griffin Lake of Emmaus, PA. Griffin is a member of the Ontelaunee Jr. Rifle Team and he shot a high of 574-20 with his Walther 22. caliber target rifle. He’s (above) collecting his thoughts during the prone position phase of competition.

Griffin (on left) is shooting in the kneeling position next to his team-mate, Jackson Wall, during the small-bore rifle segment of the competition.

Hayden Bell came in Second Place with his score of 570-21 and he is from Kennerdell, PA. Hayden is a member of the Oil City Rifle Club.     Hayden is shooting prone in the photo below.

We are often asked if scopes are used on the target rifles? No, the spotting scopes are for checking each shot by the marksmen. Hayden Bell, above,  has his scope positioned closely, in some photos the scope may appear to be attached to the rifle.  All competitors are using open sights, aka, peep sights.

Joshua Potts rounded out the “Top Three” for a Third Place finish with his score of 564-13. Josh is from Ephrata, PA.  Josh is standing at center of photo and he is a member of the Palmyra Sportsmen Assoc. Josh is on the left in the photo below.

In the JORC Air Rifle Division, the same three marksmen came in on top, but in different order.

Joshua Potts came in First Place in the Air Rifle Division with a score of 586-30. Second Place went to Hayden Bell with a score of 579-29 and in Third Place was Griffin Lake with a score of 574-26. Congratulations to these “TOP THREE” competitors for their strong finish in the Jerome Jr. Olympic Rifle Championships.

Where’s Bruno?  Before departing the Jerome Range, the Palmyra Rifle Club took the time to pose for a ‘Team Group” shot. Our Jerome Team Mascot, Bruno, had to get in the photo to distract some of the Palmyra team members. He’s gotta be in pictures.