Fort Benning, GA – Junior Helen Oh and sophomore Kevin Bennett each won a national championship and the women's team won the Air Pistol National Championship to highlight the first day of shooting at the NRA Collegiate Pistol Championship. Oh won Women's Air Pistol for the third straight season while Bennett won Men's Air Pistol for the first time. The opening match was the Women's Air Pistol Match as well as the Men's 40 shot Air Pistol Match. In the team match, the Bears took an early lead and never gave it up and ended up winning by six points over Ohio State, and nine points over MIT. The Bears women team was victorious over second place Ohio State University and third place MIT, 1079, to 1073, and 1070 respectively. The winning team members were Oh with a 373, freshman Esther Choe with a 358 and freshman Drusilla Corbett with a 348. In the Men's Air Pistol 40 shot Match, Bennett won the Championship with a 369. In second place was junior Brian Kim with a 365. In the afternoon, the Bears started the first of the three Open matches throughout the week-long competition. The afternoon warmed up and they fired in the warmth of 70+ degree weather in sunny Georgia. Oh started the match with multiple tens and never gave up her lead and won the match with an excellent 541. Oh defeated the second place finisher by an insurmountable 17.7 points. Other team members were Kim firing a 509, sophomore Kevin Ramos firing a 502, and sophomore Johnny Ly firing a 456. The Bears lost a tough one and ended up in second place firing a 2008 to Ohio State's 2067.USCGA Wins Trio of Pistol National Championships
Oh kept her lead throughout the competition and finished the qualification stage with a five point lead. During the ten-shot-finals match, she increased her lead and finished with another win in Women's Air Pistol for her third straight year.
United States Coast Guard Academy Athletics
Jennifer Meuse Director of Special Projects, USCGA Athletics