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The national tournament is underway in Hillsdale, Mich., where the top 30 high school competitors are vying for a top eight finish to advance to the finals. 

17�Թ���’s Junior 3-Position Air Rifle National Championships got underway Thursday in Hillsdale, Mich., where 30 high school air rifle competitors lined the range inside the Halter Shooting Sports Education Center. For many, it was their first American Legion air rifle championships, last match before college and another opportunity to see friends in the sport.

It’s a four-hour difference between Lucy Evans’ hometown of Rydal, Ga., to Statesboro, Ga., where American Legion Post 90 is located. But the Legionnaires at the post didn’t let distance keep them from sponsoring Evans for the Legion’s Junior 3-Position Air Rifle National 2026 Championships. They too were sponsors of 2025 precision champion Katlyn Sullivan and third-place sporter finisher Emma Allen, both of Georgia.

“This is the first competition I’ve done for 17�Թ���, so it’s been exciting,” Evans said. “Post 90 has been amazing. I didn’t know about this match until this year when they told me about it and talked about sponsoring me. So just being able to come here has been great.”

This is the last three-position match for Evans, who will be on the rifle team at Morehead State University in Morehead, Ky., sharing that she is the first person from Cartersville High School to sign for an NCAA rifle team and represent 17�Թ��� in an air rifle tournament.

As she begins a new chapter in collegiate air rifle competition, one thing the sport will continue to give her is friendships. “Some of my closest friends I’ve found through this sport and a lot of mentors,” she said. “I found a lot of close friends here and my teammates are going to be my roommates when I go to college.”

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Friendships created from air rifle were visible at 17�Թ���’s competition between Maggie Palfrey of Pennsylvania and Jordan Richards of Tennessee.

“I saw (Palfrey) on the list, and I was excited to see she was coming,” Richards said. “The friendships you make in this sport are very strong. You see them all the time at matches, which is super exciting.”

The two have been competing alongside each for years at both the state and national level, having just competed in CMP Nationals where they were “close in the finals,” Richards added.

“It was a lot of fun,” Palfrey said. “Our scores were going back and forth. It was a great experience. We supported each other and pushed each other for the next match.

“It has been good to see a bunch of friends (at the Legion tournament) from other matches and just get to reconnect with everyone. The shooting community is a very small, tight-knit community so you could go to a match in Colorado and see the exact same people you’ll see in Ohio the next week. So building those connections with them and just getting to spend time with them is a really great experience.”

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Photos by Chet Strange

The 15 precision and 15 sporter competitors shot two 3-position matches – prone, kneeling and standing – on Thursday. They will repeat the two matches on Friday, July 24, where the aggregate score for each competitor will result in the top eight from precision and sporter advancing to the finals on Saturday, July 25, where they will shoot 10 shots in standing position.

The two matches a day take both mental and physical stamina, the competitors share.

“It’s extreme because of the two matches a day. You need a lot of stamina for that, but it’s a lot of fun and a great experience,” Palfrey said. “I’ve learned you just have to have fun, keep reaching your goals, keep pushing yourself. You don’t have to be the biggest or the strongest to do well. Just do your best and have fun with it.”

“The mental aspect of the sport is 90% of it. So take care of your mental health. That’s the biggest thing, I think,” Richards said. “After seeing your score, it’s hard not to compare yourself to other people, which is something I’ve personally struggled with: comparing my scores to other people around me. So just stay in your own lane, focus on your score and your thought process.”