Junior Olympics Precision Air Rifle Champion: Jack Ogoreuc

Jack Ogoreuc, 16, of Grove City, Pennsylvania, was on top of his game at the CMP and Junior Olympics Precision Air Rifle Championships held in July at Camp Perry. He has been hard at work, preparing for Nationals at his junior club, the Oil City Shooting Club, in Pennsylvania. He claimed many victories throughout the week including victories in the Smallbore 3P and Air Gun National Matches. 

Ogoreuc placed first in the Junior Olympics Precision 3P Championship, with a final score of 467.7 – only .7 points over the second place finisher, Makenzie Larson. Jack and Makenzie both earned a spot on the National Future’s Team. He reflected on that moment saying, “It kinda felt surreal. I wasn’t really focusing on it, and it just kind of came up. It wasn’t on my radar for this match and then boom, there it is.”

Jack received the gold for the Junior Olympics Championship along with several team awards.

Jack also won High Intermediate Junior for air rifle with a score of 1239.9 and High Intermediate Junior for smallbore with a score of 1152-33x. His team, PA #1, earned several team wins for air rifle including High State Association team for the 3-member elimination match and gold junior team in the 3-member elimination match. For smallbore, the PA #1 team won the High State Association team 3-member elimination match, second place junior team 3-member elimination match, three position smallbore junior champion team and the third place open team. 

Jack has been involved in shooting sports for about four years. He was introduced to the sport through youth field days near his hometown. Someone at the field days suggested that he join a local youth team and he found the Oil City Shooting Club, which he has been a part of ever since. He was still playing hockey when he started the sport of marksmanship. For Jack, it was just a fun Friday night activity. But when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, playing hockey wasn’t possible anymore so he spent more time focusing on shooting. He said, “that’s when my scores went up and I started medaling.”

Jack, along with Makenzie Larson, earned jackets and a spot on the National Future’s Team.

Jack wasn’t alone at his firing point during Nationals. Joining him throughout his matches was a small plush Bob Ross. He hangs it on his offhand stand offering encouragement and comfort, “Happy little tens,” Jack said with a smile. He acquired this Bob Ross plush in a claw machine while at a rifle camp with his friend. They spent the evening trying to win the toy and dared each other to shoot with it on the stand during their prone match that weekend. Ogoreuc added, “We both shot great and it stuck that we keep Bob on the line when we shoot.”

Jack will be heading into his junior year in high school and although he doesn’t know exactly where this sport will take him, his big goal is to shoot in college. His additional goals include competing in all the big National Matches, the Junior Olympics and Winter Air Gun. With the scores Ogoreuc has been posting recently, his goals are well within reach. Jacks plan for improvement and future success is to focus on the basics to improve his positioning.

Many competitors have good luck charms. For Jack, it is a plush Bob Ross and it reminds him to ‘Shoot happy little tens’.

The advice he’d give to anyone new to 3-position air rifle and smallbore would be: “Be persistent and patient. It’s not going to start off with all tens, just focus and work your way up.”

If you’re interested in learning more about 3-position air rifle, visit: https://thecmp.org/youth/air/. For more information on Smallbore, visit https://thecmp.org/competitions/cmp-smallbore-program/.

For 2023 National Matches Smallbore and Air Gun Championship results, visit: https://ct.thecmp.org/app/v1/index.php?do=match&task=edit&tab=results&match=24909.

The Civilian Marksmanship Program is a federally chartered 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation. It is dedicated to firearm safety and marksmanship training and to the promotion of marksmanship competition for citizens of the United States. For more information about the CMP and its programs, log onto www.TheCMP.org.