Braden Peiser, of San Angelo, Texas, earned the Junior Olympic Champion title in both Men’s Air Rifle and Men’s 50m Smallbore Rifle at USA Shooting’s 2024 Men’s Rifle National Junior Olympic Championships (JOs) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, April 6-11.
“I feel pretty good,” said Peiser about his achievement. “It’s been a long season. We just wrapped up the NCAA season about a month ago then had (Olympic) trials part three and then the CAT Games. It’s been a push to get here. I am quite happy with the results and am looking forward to a break after this.”
Peiser, who shoots for the University of Kentucky, qualified for JOs in both events at the state level before receiving an invite to the national level. Over 150 men from across 41 states competed in rifle JOs this year. The 2024 competition marked the seventh JOs Peiser has ever competed in. He began at just 12 years old in 2017.
“It certainly has been beneficial to have the experiences and to get to the point where I come in and feel familiar with things,” said Peiser, the 2024 CAT Games gold medalist in Men’s 50m Smallbore Team. “Each one has been beneficial.”
Peiser competed in Men’s 50m Smallbore Rifle first where competitors shoot 20 shots each in the positions of kneeling, prone, and standing, to equal a 60 shot match. Peiser shot two identical match scores of 582 for an overall total of 1164 which landed him in the final.
In the final Peiser had a strong showing and out shot Griffin Lake, of Emmaus, Pennsylvania, who finished second. Finishing in third place right behind Lake was Chris Jennings, of Floyds Knobs, Indiana.
Men’s Air Rifle was shot after smallbore and consisted of 60 shots total all in the standing position from 10m away. Peiser shot two full qualification matches resulting in scores of 627.2 and 629.1 for the highest overall total of the match with 1256.3. In the final, Peiser topped the podium once again by besting Hayden Bell, of Bixby, Oklahoma, who finished second, and Jennings who finished third.
At just 19 years old Peiser already has six international medals to include a gold in the Junior Men’s 50m Smallbore Rifle Team event at the 2022 International Shooting Sports Federation World Championships. His success has carried over into his collegiate shooting career. In his freshman year at Kentucky, he earned a Great American Rifle Conference gold medal in air rifle and earned a CRCA All-American honor for Second-Team Air Rifle.
The 2024 JOs also awarded medals in 18 and under (U18) and 15 and under (U15) age categories. See all awardees below:
Men’s 50m Smallbore Rifle
Overall medalists:
Braden Peiser- Gold
Griffin Lake- Silver
Chris Jennings- Bronze
U18:
Tyler Wee- Gold
Jacob Wisman- Silver
Samuel Adkins- Bronze
U15:
Logan Sanchez- Gold
Arkin Arranza- Silver
Brady Svinky- Bronze
Men’s Air Rifle
Overall medalists:
Braden Peiser- Gold
Hayden Bell- Silver
Chris Jennings- Bronze
U18:
Jacob Wisman- Gold
Tyler Wee- Silver
Samuel Adkins- Bronze
U15:
Logan Sanchez- Gold
Klein Stanley- Silver
Mausten Stelter- Bronze
A handful of paralympic rifle shooters also participated in the 2024 JOs. The following medals were awarded:
R3 10m Air Rifle Prone Mixed SH1
Landon Ruggera- Gold
R5 10m Air Rifle Prone Mixed
Jadon Nafziger- Gold
Savannah Sturdivan- Silver
If you or someone you know is interested in Paralympic shooting, please contact Brenda Silva, USA Shooting’s Paralympic Coach, at [email protected].
ELEY made an appearance at the competition as well and named the 2023 ELEY High School All American Team. The following men received the honor of making the team: Tyler Wee, air rifle and smallbore team; Jack Ogoreuc, smallbore team.
View all official JOs scores here: https://usashooting.org/app/uploads/2024/04/2024-FINAL-Jr-Oly-Results.xlsx
View photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usashooting/albums/72177720315912464
Junior Olympics is the first half of the selection procedures for the 2024 International Shooting Sports Federation Junior World Championships, taking place this fall in Lima, Peru. The second half of selection will be the 2024 USA Shooting National Championships in June.
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