June 16, 2006

FORT BENNING, Ga. - On the strength of a win in junior women's air rifle and a second place finish in women's air rifle at the 2006 USA Shooting Rifle and Pistol National Championships held at Fort Benning, Ga., rising sophomore Jessica Jasis (Dycusburg, Ky.) earned a spot on the U.S. National Team, Thursday. Jasis shot a 788 qualifying score, plus a 101.0 in the final in women's air rifle for an 889.0 total.

With her Thursday win in the junior division and second place finish in the women's division, Jasis will move from the National Development Team to the National Team. National Team members receive training, which is supported by the USAS and USOC funds. Some shooters are selected to compete in International Shooting Sports Foundation (ISSF) World Cups, providing they meet certain performance standards. All National Team members are also eligible to compete in the U.S. Shooting Team selection matches, which determine the roster for the ISSF Championships that year.

Jasis already has some national competition under her belt, having competed in the Czech Republic in 2005, where she received a team bronze medal in smallbore rifle.

Jasis made her first splash in US Shooting competition in April of 2005 when she defeated a 2004 Olympian while winning the women's air rifle at the USA Shooting National Junior Olympic Rifle Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo. That win earned her a spot on the National Development team.

Each year, there are one or more international-level events for which USA Shooting must select a team. Rotating on a four-year cycle that caps with the Olympics, the first year events following an Olympic year include the Championships of the Americas and the World Clay Target Championships. The second year of the cycle includes the World Shooting Championships and the third year includes the Pan American Games and the World Clay Target Championships leading up to the Olympics.

International shooting is the only style of shooting used in the Olympic Games and evolved from the European aristocratic tradition of shooting. Men's and women's air rifle became a part of the Olympic roster in 1984 and men's and women's air pistol debuted in 1988. In three-position rifle, which is the event Jasis earned her spot to the national team in, athletes fire a .22 caliber smallbore rifle from the prone, standing and kneeling positions at targets 50 meters away. The bullseye is 10.4 millimeters in diameter, smaller than a dime. Women's sport rifles weight up to 12 pounds and women have two hours and 15 minutes to shoot all three positions, 20 rounds per position for a total of 60 shots. The top eight performers advance to a 10-shot final round, fired from the standing position with 75 seconds allotted per shot. The final is calculated to the tenth of a point and added to the match point score to determine the winner. A perfect score in the finals round is a 109.