Our Jerome Jr. Rifle Team traveled to the Palmyra Sportsmen’s Club Range, back in February, to compete in the Pennsylvania Jr Olympic Rifle Competition (JORC). This event brings the best 3-Position performers from all across Pennsylvania.

When the results were tallied, Ruby Korenoski, Elissa Barron and Emily Bennett, all landed near the top of the pack out of a field of 50+ rifle contestants. Their next nerve wracking step was waiting for news from the USA Olympic Committee concerning who will move forward.

Ruby and Emily waiting to shoot at Palmyra. Recently the 3 sharp-shooters each received the following letter (below) from the Manager of Communications at USA Shooting. (It read in part) 

You’re In! USA Shooting has invited you to compete in the National Junior Olympic Rifle Championships (NJOSC) in Hillsdale, Michigan. Please accept my personal congratulations on your outstanding achievements. 

With this invite you are joining an exclusive club of USA Shooting National Junior Olympic athletes who have come before you. The competition is slated for May 11-15 , 2022 at the home range of the USA Shooting National Team in Hillsdale, Michigan.    Best,

Breanna Orey, Manager, USA Shooting, 1 Olympic Plaza, Colorado Springs, CO.

Emily and Elissa were keeping an eye on the competition, on the scoreboard monitors, as the JORC progressed through the various stages. The yellow dot is the last shot fired and the blue is the group.

Barry Rininger, Head Coach, said, “This Official Letter is a huge honor for members of our Jerome Junior Rifle team. For three kids, on one club, to get this invite is very impressive”. 

Coach Rininger and his daughter, Nicole, at the Palmyra JORC.

Barry has coached Ruby and Elissa for nearly 4 years as members of the Jr. Team. Emily is a newcomer to the squad. She joined about a year ago and with her talents, she has quickly improved to be one of our best shooters. Emily is often the “Top Shot” on her Bishop Carroll High School rifle team.

Elissa and Ruby have been “Top Five” shooters throughout their North Star and Conemaugh Township High School matches and in their Jerome Jr. Rifle Team careers.

Ruby had a great two days of shooting at the JORC event, she shot a First Place in Air Rifle and a captured Second in 22 Smallbore. That performance earned her an invitation to compete in both divisions at the USA Nationals.

In the Air Rifle event, Elissa and Ruby each shot exactly the same score, a #576-23x. This is odd to have an exact tie. Because Ruby is in the under 18 age group, she was listed in “First Place” in Air Rifle among her U-18 peers.

Elissa is in the Under 21 age group and in that division she landed in Fourth Place overall with her # 576-23x. The ladies both had 23x’s, (a perfect Bullseye)

Emily Bennett made the cut into the Top Ten of this state-wide event, to earn her Olympic Letter. This invite is tough to receive, especially when there are 50 individual students registered to shoot. Emily was ranked in 8^th Place in the Air Rifle division with a #568-22x, she is in the U-18 group.

In the Smallbore Rifle match, Ruby missed a first place win by just 4 points and came in Second Place, overall, with a score of #566-18x. Elissa shot a strong score of #558-24x to capture fifth place in Smallbore, just missing an invite to NJORC for Smallbore. However, having two members of the same team, Ruby and Elissa, in the “Top Five” in both 22 & 177 divisions at a JORC is really noteworthy.

Top performing Junior Rifle competitors at the National Match may be invited to join the USA Shooting, National Junior Development Team. They can also qualify to be invited to competitions held in Colorado Springs, CO at the US Olympic Training complex later in the summer. In addition to the letter from the Olympic Committee, it included Official Olympic logos for use in publicity.

Good Luck Ladies on your continuing Olympic Journey!